Crimson Revelations
by PNR-guilty-pleasure
Summary: After those four famous words in the church, Rose and Dimitri get hurled into an unfamiliar place together. All hope is directed at them for fixing their broken world. And why are there two Dhampirs that look like them? Can Rose and Dimitri make a difference this time?
1. Chapter 1

**As promised the first chapter of Crimson Revelations.**

 **For everyone that want to read how I fix the mess I left behind in Crimson power, welcome back. Thanks for trusting me enough to continue reading. And thanks for the many reviews, follows and faves. I promised a time jump so don't get confused by the first part of the chapter.**

 **For all the new readers. Hello. This is a sequel to Crimson Power. I would advise reading that story first, but if you want to give it a go, be my guest.**

Chapter 1

RPOV

"Love fades, Mine has."

As he said those words I broke inside. I shouldn't even feel this way because I had Adrian, but they broke me none the less.

I couldn't let Dimitri see me like this. I wouldn't let him see me break. I hadn't broken in the room in Russia, I hadn't broken on the bridge and I wouldn't break in front of him now.

I stood up from the pew in the church and made my way outside. I nearly stumbled on my own feet trying to get out of church. I was vaguely aware of someone following me.

I walked around the corner of the church and slid down the wall of the building opposite the church. I let the tears fall freely. I didn't make a sound. I didn't ball my eyes out. If it weren't for the steady stream of tears and the empty look in my eyes, I doubt anyone would have known how upset I was.

I saw a large shadow approach from around the corner. I wiped my eyes quickly.

"Rose…"

I knew he knew how I felt. He could always see right through me. I had seen realization in the church. He knew he might have taken it too far. But I couldn't hear his apology. I couldn't hear another; You should just give up on me, and I am a danger to you. I couldn't hear him justifying not even wanting to see me. I got up and walked away.

"Rose, please…"

"No, Dimitri. I am giving you what you want, I am leaving you alone. Now return the favor and leave."

Dimitri's guards were catching up to him but he just kept following me. I was making my way to my guest apartment; at least there I could shut the door in his face. We rounded another corner when I felt the earth move. It felt like the gravity was increasing and pressing down on me and the next moment I felt feather light and I could almost lift myself off of the ground. The ground moved underneath us. It changed. Where it had been a pristine tile, no doubt expensive before, it was now flickering towards something well-worn and was that blood? The gravity came back with a vengeance again and it knocked me down on the ground which was no longer flickering but was now that blood-stained worn tile I saw. I saw Dimitri next to me and he seemed as disoriented as I was.

When I trusted my body again to move, I turned my head and looked around. It didn't look much different from what I had seen a moment ago, except the building I had just cried against was no longer a building. It was a ruin. The roof was gone and so was part of the walls. There was still half a window with shattered glass. The church was burned down behind us. What happened? Did we pass out? Or go into a coma for a few years?

Dimitri was standing up next to me and I saw he was as confused as I was.

"Roza, are you okay?"

For a moment he seemed to forget that he didn't want anything to do with me. Concern was in his voice and I think he didn't even realize he called me Roza, something he hadn't done since he was turned back. But I didn't meet his gaze as I grumbled out a 'fine'.

"I can't believe I did it."

I was brought out of my own depressive mood by the very tired voice. I looked towards a fountain, well, what used to be a fountain and saw a blond girl being supported by a man with dark curly hair. She had been the one to speak and I saw wonder in her eyes as she looked at us. Her eyes held something familiar. They were a shade of green I recognized. Although she was clearly Dhampir I think she had some Ivashkov in her line.

The curly haired man handed the girl a flask and she drank it eagerly. I wondered if there was alcohol in there. Certainly would substantiate my suspicions of her being Ivashkov. But when a little bit spilled down her side it was orange. Juice maybe?

"Yeah, you did it Dani, now come sit down."

The curly man said to the girl, clearly named Dani.

I walked a little closer to them. I dragged my feet and saw I was crossing a border made of what salt?, dirt? I looked back to the place we had 'landed' and saw it was in the middle of a geometric shape. It reminded me a little of a pentagram, but it had more corners. God what had this girl done to us.

I turned back around to the two and put my hands on my hips.

"Can someone explain to me…."

My words were cut off when there was a siren going off. The screeching over the speakers was annoying as hell, I covered my ears. The curly haired man stood to attention and I saw his hand move towards his belt. He was taking out a stake? Why would he do that at court? But then I felt it. The nausea. There were Strigoi here. But how could that be. This is court. The most guarded place in the world.

But as the nausea intensified I knew this was real. I braced myself for a fight but realized I was unarmed. Dimitri didn't know what was going on, but my reaction and the reaction of Curls over there was enough to let Dimitri know there was a threat, and of course the never ending alarm was still going off. Normally that wasn't a good sign either.

Dimitri reached down to his own belt but realized same as me he wasn't armed either. He swore in Russian. He was moving closer to me, almost as if I needed protecting. I nearly growled, I hadn't needed his protection in a long time, and I wouldn't have it now. I was about to say something of the kind when five Strigoi came around. I halted my commentary on Dimitri's behavior as I looked at the Strigoi who had come from a side street and were now between us and Curls and Dani.

I saw Curls was pushing Dani behind him as well, as he prepared for battle. Funny because I saw the same kind of annoyance in Dani at the gesture as I had had when Dimitri tried to protect me only a moment ago.

"Declan, don't treat me like a baby. I can fight."

"You are still drained so don't exert yourself, the spell took a lot out of you. Besides you'll always be my little sister."

He gave her a big grin while she rolled her eyes. However, his eyes were back on the threat a second later.

Brother and sister huh. I really didn't see that. Dani was blond with green eyes and had light skin, Declan however, had dark brown curls, dark brown eyes and even his skintone seemed to have a little dark mixed in. He would sooner be my brother then hers. Although his face structure told me he had a different heritage, Native American maybe?, But his name suggested an Irish decent. They looked nothing alike, but maybe half siblings or something.

The Strigoi were dividing their attention, three were hissing at us and two were turned away from us, towards Declan and Dani.

They engaged and I couldn't do anything but defend. I didn't have anything to kill them with. Why is there never an axe around when you need one?

I was trying to keep him at bay, but I was losing that battle. He was inches away from my neck when the look in his eyes changed from feral hunger to shock.

Blood splattered on my clothes and on my face. I could still see the Strigoi who had been fighting me spurt out a few last breaths before his eyes went dead. I saw something protruding from his chest. A sword?

The sword was pulled back and the body slumped to the floor. The person holding the sword and who made the kill was now visible and it was like looking into a mirror. Her brown eyes and dark hair matched perfectly to her dark outfit and stormy focused look. She looked shocked at me for a moment before she composed herself and left to find another victim for her sword. I was left there standing a little stunt, where were we?

The girl was already engaged in the next fight, well fight was a little much, massacre was more like it. In the middle of the battle field, now engaging the other four Strigoi, were two Dhampirs, a boy and the girl. They couldn't have been older than me and something told me they were younger. The girl was wielding a thin and small blade, it reminded me a bit of a katana but with a modern edge. The boy standing at at least six feet five was wielding a broad sword. It was huge and it almost looked comical in the hand of the youngster, although he seemed to wield it like it weighed nothing. The metal of the blades looked weird. I didn't know what kind of metal it was, but it was affective. The boy brought down the full weight of the sword on one of the Strigoi's neck and its head fell right off, like his neck was made of butter instead of bones and muscles. I saw the girl pull a second blade from her back and crossed them at the neck of a Strigoi, she pulled on both blades and in the intersection his head popped right off. They didn't seem to mind the blood splattered on them. As a matter of fact she seemed to be licking it of her lips. When she turned around again I saw her eyes had changed color. From the deep brown they had been before to red-rimmed. If I didn't know any better I would say she was Strigoi, but she hadn't been a moment ago and she was still engaging the remainder of the Strigoi instead of attacking us.

The boy and girl moved together to finish off the last Strigoi. They seemed to know where the other one was at all times. Moving in perfect synchrony. I had only seen and felt it once before. When Dimitri and I would fight together. It was a product of endless hours of training together and instinct for the other and these two had perfected it into an art form.

I assumed they would kill the last Strigoi by decapitation or piercing it with their blade but to my utter horror they sank their teeth into its neck, the boy on one end and the girl on the other. Okay so there went my 'they are not Strigoi' theory. Dimitri moved slightly in front of me again. Jackass.

The moment they pulled back I saw their eyes change color again. Back to the rich brown it had been before. The body of the Strigoi slumped to the ground. He wasn't healing from this anymore. So I suppose there were four ways to kill a Strigoi now. Of course nobody had ever tried drinking from a Strigoi before. That would simply be nuts. I wondered if Strigoi did it to each other. But Dimitri had once told me there was no nourishment in it.

"Yo, you two done?"

A boy with black hair and green I hadn't noticed, had joined us.

"Yeah, we are, take care of them."

The girl said when at the same time the black-haired boy smiled and with what seemed like a flick of his fingers set the Strigoi on fire. Moments later they were nothing more than dust in the wind.

The alarm had died down now and the immediate threat seemed to have gone. So I turned to these curious people.

"Can someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?"

The boy and girl turned to me and the shock on the boy's face registered. He was still staring at me and Dimitri when I saw the girl turn back around and storming of towards Dani.

"Fucking hell, Dani, what did you do? I thought we discussed this and we decided no."

"No Lera, you two decided. The rest of us are willing to do anything to save this world."

"But this, this is to dangerous, you don't know if you make it worse of not."

"How can it get any worse? It may not be so bad for the two of you, but for the rest of us this is hell, never knowing when you breathe your last breath."

I saw the girl was about to go into it with Dani, when a strong male voice echoed through the courtyard we were standing in.

"That is enough."

Both girls turned around at the new voice and I felt my own eyes travel towards the very familiar form. Well somewhat familiar. His hair had a little salt and pepper at the temples and around his eyes were some wrinkles which had been absent the last time I saw him. The content of his green eyes was different too. Where Adrian's eyes had always been carefree and held a mischievous note in them, his eyes now betrayed his age more than his greying hair or his wrinkles. They were the eyes of someone who had seen a lot. Too much even. But as he laid eyes on me his eyes softened.

"Little Dhampir. You are a sight for sore eyes."

He closed the distance between us and his hand hesitantly touched my cheek. As if he was afraid I would dissolve into thin air if he touched me. But the sensation was strange. I was used to seeing desire in his eyes whenever he saw me or touched me. And although it was clear that there was love in his eyes towards me I could not detect lust in them anymore. More wishfulness.

He looked over to Dimitri and I could even see some fondness for him in his eyes, that was new.

He gave a small nod towards Dimitri acknowledging him.

"Adrian, what is going on?"

He turned back around to me and I heard him take a deep breath.

"We have a lot to talk about, little Dhampir. You best follow me inside. I'll make some tea."

Tea? Since when was Adrian drinking tea instead of alcohol?

"Lera, Sasha, you two come with me. Declan take Dani and Eric and get them inside."

The girl and boy who had taken down five Strigoi in a matter of second, obviously named Lera and Sasha, swiped their blades in the air, releasing some excess blood before they sheathed their blades in their holsters at their back. The modest slim blades Lera was carrying only sticking out slightly above her shoulder, whereas Sasha's sword filled his entire back, and was both reaching beyond his hips and butt as well as his head.

I noticed they were both fascinated by both Dimitri and I. I wondered why. They were obviously against us coming here.

We followed Adrian across court. As I was looking around I was mortified. The place was ruined. At its center the palace which had once been so majestic and pristine, now looked like a bomb when off inside of it. Although it didn't look as bad as some of the other properties at court.

Adrian took us to the meeting room. No guardians were stationed there. No royals were passing us by. The place was deserted.

Adrian motioned for us to sit. He was in the small kitchenette making tea apparently and we were left with just Dimitri and I and Lera and Sasha across from us. It was awkward. They were staring at us like they never saw another person before.

Adrian came back with an actual tray of tea and biscuits. He put a cup in front of us each.

"So?"

I asked a little impatient.

"So… You two are in the future."

 **I have had some speculations on how I would fix Romitri's death. Well here it is: time travel. I am such a Scifi nerd. I hope you all like it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for all the reviews, follows and favs. Made my day. I know it can be a bit confusing sometimes, with temporal paradoxes, time-travel induced alternative realities and rewriting of history. But gives me a lot of freedom to do what I want in this reality because it will be overwritten anyway.**

 **Because I had so many people showing their support I decided to be nice and upload the next chapter today. But then it is back to a once-every-two-day uploading schedule. I need time to write the second part of this story.**

Chapter 2:

DPOV

The future. We were in the future. I had already deduced that when I saw Adrian and what I assume are Adrian's and Rose's kids. They looked so much like her, especially Lera, it was hard to miss.

I was surprised at my own bitterness. Rose wasn't mine anymore. She was dating Adrian. This is just the logical conclusion of what I knew was true in our own time, but still it stung.

 _You don't have any right to think that, you threw her away._

I had hoped breaking ties with Rose would ease my guilt. That I wouldn't remind her of her time in Russia by hanging around. By making sure I was never in a position again to hurt her. But the look she had in the church was a hundred times worse than any look I had seen from her in Russia. I broke her and honestly it had broken me too. But I had to accept reality. She wasn't mine anymore, she could be with whomever she wants and it is clear she made her choice.

"So as you might have figured out, the world didn't approve a whole lot in twenty-five years."

That was an understatement.

"Yeah, what happened? Where is Lissa? Is she alright?"

I involuntarily perked up at Rose's question. Lissa. She had saved me from a horrible fate. Even if I used her to get to Rose, she still saved me. I would always be grateful to her and anything she wanted me to do I would do it.

I saw Adrian's face contort. Why would the mention of Lissa do that?

"She is alive."

He didn't seem too happy about it though. I wasn't a big fan of Adrian before, but I was really not liking him now. Even though I saw a similar reaction in Lera and Sasha.

And what was up with that? Those were Russian nicknames. Yes, originally the Ivashkovs were Russian but really? It was like he was rubbing it in my face.

"Look Lissa is of later concern. We have to talk to you why you are here."

"Why don't we start with how we got here."

I asked as I crossed my arms over my chest defensively. Adrian narrowed his eyes at me but didn't respond to my non-verbal communication. Just my verbal communication.

"Dani, my daughter, you met her right, she is a witch. Has been looking for that particular spell for years, ever since she found a reference of the spell in a book."

Wait his daughter? I had seen Dani, she wasn't much younger than Lera and Sasha. Although it was hard imagining how old they were. Obviously the were siblings, but I couldn't figure out who was older. But I did know Dani was in the same range. Did Adrian cheat on Rose when she was pregnant?

I let out a growl and Adrian seemed to notice this. There was a slight gleam in his eyes that told me he knew what I was reacting too. Really he was proud of it?

Rose was oblivious to the implications of Dani and of our little exchange. She was pinching the bridge of her nose.

"A witch. How did we get to a witch, she is Dhampir, we don't have magic."

"Nope, she doesn't have internal magic like Moroi do, but being a witch can be thought. Her mother is a witch and learned it in her teens. Dani was never much of a fighter, she took after her mother and became a scholar, she studied human magic since she was a child, she is actually very gifted."

"Her mother is another Dhampir witch. This is really getting bizarre. But you have the weirdest taste in women."

Now Adrian outright laughed, and I even saw Lera and Sasha smile.

"Oh you have no idea. And she isn't Dhampir, she is human, an ex-alchemist actually."

I just stared at him, so did Rose. He left Rose for an ex-alchemist?

"Dani won't be able to send you back for at least a few days, she needs to recuperate for a while."

"So why did you bring us here."

Adrian had a smile on his face. But there didn't seem to be any humor in it.

"To do what you two do best: save the world."

I looked over to Rose. He was talking about us as if we were in this together. But I honestly think any corporation between us right now wasn't in the cards.

"So what do we need to do then?"

He looked grief stricken as he said this.

"Live."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, come with me."

We followed Adrian out again into a small courtyard.

There in the middle stood a statue, a statue of Rose and I. The encryption on the stone beneath marked it as our grave, but it wasn't the fact I was staring at my own grave that had me unable to breath. It was the fact that statue Dimitri looked at Rose with such love in his eyes and that brass Rose seemed to be returning that favor. Maybe it was a cruel joke from whoever made the statue. But as I was looking at myself I didn't see the broken man I was now. I didn't see guilt in his eyes. He had his shoulders straight making him seem taller, me? I was hunched over as if my shame and guilt had made its way into my body. He looked powerful and sure of himself. It was like he was mocking me.

"Nine years."

Rose's word got me out of my depressive thoughts.

"What?"

"We die in nine years, I suppose that is longer than some. We are in a dangerous profession after all."

"When did Dani snatch you up?"

"You don't know?"

I asked Adrian.

He shook his head.

"That is not how the spell works, she opened up a portal to the past in a specific place, she had to wait before either of you were actually in the spot when the portal was open for it to activate. Dani had been sitting there for a while. We are lucky we got you both at the same time. I had indicated when you would most likely be there hoping to get the timing right. But I don't know if it actually worked."

"You took us from the summer when Dimitri was turned back."

You could see Adrian winch a bit.

"You were obviously let out of the cells already."

I nodded.

"So who is queen at the moment?"

I looked at him like he was crazy.

"Your aunt is."

Again he winched. Why did we need to specify that? Is Tatiana going to retire soon, she isn't very old yet.

He kept looking between me and Rose and shaking his head. He seemed to pity the both of us.

"Totally makes sense now, but actually pretty close to what we were hoping. Come on let's get back inside to Lera and Sasha, we have some explaining to do."

"Actually I don't see how they need to be there. They obviously aren't involved in this because they weren't born yet, so I don't see how your children need to be there for this conversation."

I had my arms crossed and was pissed off, I didn't understand why, but I was. Rose was looking at me dumbstruck, I think she made the connection that they were in her bloodline but I don't think she thought they were Adrian's. How could she not? She was with Adrian now, wasn't she?

But before Rose could find her voice Adrian started laughing, hard.

He was grabbing his stomach he was laughing so hard.

"You think they are mine? Oh this is funny, explains your behavior a bit. No Rose and I decided long before she had the twins that we weren't meant for each other. I married Sydney and had Dani, remember."

"Wait what? They are mine? And you married Sydney?"

Rose asked shocked.

Adrian and I looked at her funny. How had she not realized this?

"Well duh. Lera is practically a carbon copy of you and Sasha's looks aren't far behind and Sydney and I are a long story."

I felt a small sliver of hope I shouldn't be having. Rose and Adrian were going to break up. But that little piece of hope was squashed again when I realized Rose would end up with someone else who would grand her children. I shouldn't feel deflated by that but I did. I had no right to feel this way. I threw her away. I messed up any chance of Rose and me being together.

The statue came back to me. We had looked like we had belonged together in that statue. We had the same day of death. There was a small sense of relief knowing at least Rose and I would still be going into battle together.

Adrian was still snickering when we came back into the room. Lera and Sasha were both polishing their blades.

"Oh put those things away you two."

He might not be their father but he sure as hell sounded like it.

"What are you laughing about anyway? What is so funny?"

Adrian waved at Lera's question, dismissing her.

"I'll tell you later. It is hilarious."

I rolled my eyes. I didn't think it was that funny or so farfetched.

"Okay so can we now get back to where we are supposed to save the world from certain doom and where apparently my children can become Strigoi."

"Oh that yeah well, they are unique."

He said as he was rubbing their heads, messing up their hair. I heard Sasha growl at this as he straightened out his hair and Lera sighed deeply and pulled her hairtie out and re-did her hair. As she was combing through her long dark locks I wondered how Rose could have ever mistaken her for anything but her daughter. Even the mannerism in which she did it was identical to her mother's.

"We inherited some Strigoi attributes, we can turn it on or off. It's handy in a fight but we do need to feed on Strigoi to replenish our strength seeing as we don't have an immortal undead body to sustain us. Other than that we are normal Dhampirs."

Adrian chuckled again.

"Oh yeah, you two are just run in the middle teenagers. Anyway. Your deaths set in motion a few events we would like to stop. We figured if you two survive we could avoid all the nasty stuff that followed."

"Like what? How did the world end up like this?"

Adrian sat down and went from funny to serious again. The contrast was strange, especially in Adrian.

"You two were killed by the oldest Strigoi known to the Alchemists, however, you took him down with you. At first Strigoi attacks had quieted down, thinking the death of one of their oldest meant they were more cautious and afraid. But we were wrong; they were planning and forming armies. The death of Joshua meant they took the threat seriously and banded together. Their need for revenge and perhaps the fear that even he could fall overrode their violent nature towards each other. That in itself was worrisome but still manageable. We had been researching spirit a lot and had come up with a vaccine for being turned. The reigning queen started an immunizing program that prevented people from turning. Also it eliminated those inoculated as a food source for the Strigoi because their food became almost undrinkable. However the inoculation had another effect. The spirit in the vaccine ensured that Dhampirs could procreate with each other. Now that is a positive thing although it meant our society fell. Dhampirs no longer needed the Moroi to ensure the survival of their own species, so the guardian system fell apart. There were Dhampirs and Non-royal Moroi who banded together for safety and fighting off Strigoi but there were others who resisted the change and enslaved Dhampirs with compulsion to keep them guarding them and breeding with them. The division in our society meant that when the Strigoi were ready for war, we weren't. Court had fallen and many lost their lives. We as Moroi and Dhampir are on the brink of extinction. Sydney had relayed the vaccine to the alchemists and they are distributing it amongst humans, but it just means that Strigoi are even more desperate to destroy us. We need spirit and a Dhampir to produce the vaccine, if they kill us, the vaccine can no longer be manufactured and they have free reign again."

I just stared at Adrian. There truly was an apocalypse here. But I didn't understand how us surviving would magically make this go away.

"So you want us not to kill Joshua? That was the catalyst for most of this."

He shook his head.

"Killing Joshua was a great victory and the war was coming anyway. We just weren't prepared. And we were missing our greatest fighters. You two could have united the Dhampirs and kept part of our society together, but the vaccine was released to soon with no regard to its consequences. Our queen had illegally obtained it and had to be dethroned afterwards. Just the fallout from that caused and unrepairable ripple through our system. Your deaths and consequences of that is what send her over the edge to do it in the first place."

Nothing made sense. Why would Tatiana be so affected by our deaths?

"Adrian where is Lissa?"

Rose asked not for the first time today.

In that moment a blond women walked in. She was surprised to see us and I saw a little bit of relief in her eyes as well, but she had a guardian mask of her own and years of fighting on the front lines have perfected her impassive face. The way she was looking at Adrian and the fact she was human let me to deduce this was his wife. I saw recognition on Rose's face as well. I had been told that Rose had had help from an alchemist in Russia, a young girl named Sydney. I assumed this was her.

"Adrian, you are needed."

He nodded and left with his wife.

"I'll be right back."

He said leaving us alone with the twins. It immediately became awkward. They were looking between us. I would have imagined their attentions lingering on Rose a bit longer seeing as she was their mother, but I suppose we were kind of celebrities around here.

"So… you getting good school reports?"

Rose asked a little hesitantly. I suppose it was weird talking to your kids when they were practically the same age as you.

"Well we did, well I did, Sasha was always in trouble, until the school was destroyed."

"Right, sorry."

Silence again.

"So who trained you if you aren't going to school anymore?"

I asked.

"Grandma or Uncle Eddie. I am not going to tell grandma this but she is getting old."

She whispered to Rose and Rose laughed.

"I am glad to hear she is still around and Eddie as well. He is a good fighter."

They nodded. I saw they agreed with her but I also saw longing in their eyes. They wanted to be trained by her. She was also one of the best. Funny thing though they seemed to have a similar look in their eyes when they were looking at me.

"So how old were you when I died, is your Dad still in your life? Did he raise you?"

She asked hopefully. I think part of it was because Rose didn't want them to be orphans but also I think she wants a functional relationship with their father, something I could never give her. The twins looked confused by Rose's question though.

"We were three, and Adrian and Sydney raised us. They have a tendency to take in strays, and Dad died that day too. He was on the battle field with you."

Of course he was. Of course Rose would end up with a progressive Moroi that would join in on fights. Rose needed that kind of person. A person that understood that she was a warrior. I was jealous of this person, even if I have never met him. I knew Rose and Adrian were together but somehow I had known it wouldn't work out because Adrian and Rose were too different. He wasn't able to understand her, understand her need for battle. But now this guy seemed to have been able to do just that. She didn't need me anymore.

"Oh, I am sorry."

"We are not. We had often wondered what it would be like just to know one parent. But Adrian said it was better this way. They were never meant to be apart. He said he found them in a field of ash after they learned of the battle side by side holding hands. He said that one without the other was nothing but a shell."

Of course. Grand fucking love story. I was right to stay out of her life. She deserves to be happy, she deserved to be loved like that. I couldn't possible give her that.

"So he was a progressive Moroi then, what did he specialize in?"

I asked trying very hard to engage in conversation as to not let my own depressive mood get the better of me.

They both looked at me like I was crazy. Lera actually tilter her head a bit like a puppy. It was kind of cute.

"You don't specialize in anything, you are a Dhampir."

My mind went blank. Were they implying that I was their father? That couldn't be. Actually Adrian did mention something about the vaccine being able to allow Dhampirs to procreate together. But he made it sound like it was invented after we died, so that wouldn't work for us.

Rose looked over at me and I saw the same shock register with her. This hadn't been a possibility for her either. I saw she was struggling. She abruptly stood up, letting her chair fall behind her. She walked out of the room.

I wanted to call her back. Wanted to talk this through, I wanted to apologize for what the lie I told her and myself in the church, but nothing came out. I turned back around and I saw the twins were absolutely confused.

"You didn't know? I assume Adrian told you. And well you two have been together since forever right. Why would you think she would be with someone else?"

I had no idea what our children knew about our past but apparently this little piece of information hadn't been disclosed to them.

I was about to answer when Adrian walked back in. His eyes betrayed the severity of whatever news he had just been given.

"Why was Rose just storming off?"

I sighed deeply but didn't answer him. I didn't know how.

"They didn't know Dimitri was our father."

"You told them?"

They nodded.

"And I am guessing it didn't go over well."

They shook their heads.

"Let me guess Dimitri, when we snatched you two, you had just informed Rose that she was better off without you and that she should leave you alone. A little church incident no doubt."

I nodded.

"Why?"

The twins asked in unison. It was adorable.

"They are having a bit of a rough patch right now. Dimitri has been a restored Dhampir for less than two weeks, he is feeling guilty and he projected that guilt onto Rose because as a Strigoi he had held her captive and drank from her and trying to turn her. He feels that she would be happier without him. He is an idiot."

I looked down towards the ground but I didn't correct him. He was right. I was an idiot. But that didn't mean I hadn't hurt her. As a Strigoi or back in the church.

"Don't worry though; this fairy tale has a happy ending. Well that is until they get experimented on and die of course."

The twins roll their eyes.

What does he mean experimented?

"Why don't you two help out in the perimeter on the north side. There have been some sightings. I need to have a conversation with mister moron over here."

He sat across from me almost amused.

"So, she still is pissed about the fact you didn't want to see her huh. Well she could always hold a grudge."

I rolled my eyes.

"It is more than that. Just before we came here I told her to forget me, to let go of any feelings she had for me. Because I had."

"Ouh ouch. That would do it. That would break her and Yeah I was right, you are an idiot."

"It is a little weird to be talking about this with her current boyfriend."

He smiled. I guess he could see the irony as well.

"Yeah about that. Hind sight is 20-20. Rose and I should have never even started dating. I pushed her to fast after Russia and shouldn't have and she should have never accepted when she clearly wasn't over you yet. Rose and I… well I know she cared for me, maybe even loved me, but we weren't right for each other. We made each other worse instead of better. It took me a long time to realize that. I think however Rose always knew… You didn't think it weird you made the connection I was probably the twins' father but she didn't. It was more than just her not knowing she was their mother, it was the fact she never envisioned a future with me in the first place. It simply didn't occur to her… But if you can help it this time around, get back together with her after she breaks up with me, will save you a lot of drama."

I looked at him funny. Did he imply Rose cheated on him with me?

"She cheated on you?"

"Well sort of. We were never physical with each other, so in that sense she didn't but yeah she was dating me and neglected to break up with me first before she became physical with you again. There were some circumstances which made it difficult for her to break up with me but still it hurt. I hated you two for a long time. But we got past that and now I am raising your children."

"Why are you raising them, why not Lissa and Christian?"

He looked down at his hands. His eyes held an odd mix of grief and anger.

"That is a long story, but you made it clear after the twins were born that you wanted Sydney and I to take care of them and not Lissa and Christian. That went over well when Lissa learned of that after you two died."

I still found it hard to believe I would hand my children over to Adrian and not Lissa or Christian, but I must admit the Adrian before me now was a lot less annoying then the Adrian from our time.

I sat back into my chair, this was a lot to take in. Rose and I together again, having kids, the end of the world. Yeah it was testimony to how much I screwed up that I thought that was the order of how unbelievable an event was. Me and Rose together having kids was more baffling than the end of the world.

"God I screwed up."

Adrian chuckled.

"yeah you did. But Rose has this tendency to render us all fools in her presence. Look I know you still love her, even now under all those layers of guilt I can see it. It was just buried very deep. She will forgive you eventually, but you need to figure out how to not wallow in it so much you can't feel anything else. Now in our timeline, you eventually did, but we don't know how much we are changing, so the sooner you get your act together the better."

I nodded.

"So how did we end up having kids anyway. I thought you said the vaccine wasn't invented after we died."

He nodded. He then started to explain about the perks of being turned back from Strigoi. About Declan and how we survived the experiments his father had inflicted on us. I just kept listening and my eyes kept getting wider and wider and my mouth had a tendency to keep falling open.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for the reviews, follows and faves.**

 **I would like to pay special tribute to Swimming the same deep waters. Not only is she a loyal follower and friend but she also pre-read this story and gave me some pointers where I could improve. I think it made this story better. Thanks.**

Chapter 3:

Lera's POV

This was not what I had expected. For years we have been told our parents had this grand love story, Adrian even made it into a bedtime story for us. The censured version anyway. Now I realized why he felt the need to censure. I had dreamed about this moment for years. When Dani first came to us we were excited but I also knew that bringing them here was dangerous and part of me was scared that the perfect picture of my parents in my head would be ruined. I had been right. They looked nothing like the statue. They looked nothing like the pictures we had of them. When they were together in the pictures you could almost feel the love radiating off of the paper. But this version of my mother was obviously hurt and pissed at my father. And not the 'you didn't take out the trash' kind of pissed off, but deep hurt. She could barely look at him, could barely stand to be in the same room as him and when she learned he was our father, she had actually left. His reaction to her wasn't any better. Her presence seemed to cause him pain as well. I guess we were in the part of the story where the princess had just saved the prince from the curse of the monster. Adrian had just neglected to mention it was while he was still dating her and that the prince wasn't very grateful for the saving.

I saw her standing in the backyard overlooking the palace gardens. Well what was left of it anyway. She had tears in her eyes and she wasn't even trying to hide them as they fell freely down her face.

It was only after a few moments she even noticed I was there. Weren't they supposed to be these awesome warriors, shouldn't she be more aware of her surroundings?

"Hey."

"hey."

"Look I am sorry, I didn't mean to take off like that. It's just… it's complicated."

"What did he do? Adrian said he felt guilty."

She nodded.

"Do you know what happened to him?"

"You mean him turning Strigoi, yeah, we know, it is why we could exist in the first place."

"Well his guilt is eating him alive and apparently he directs it all on me. He hurt me when he was Strigoi and now he doesn't want to have anything to do with me, no doubt in a misguided attempt to protect me. Asshat. I sacrificed everything to save him, first I dropped out of school and tried to kill him. Then when I learned there was another way, I broke one of my worst enemies out of Tarasov in the hope he had the information I needed. And I finally succeed and all I get is a 'stay away from me Rose'. I just don't understand how we can go from here to having kids together. And you know the most fucked-up thing about this is… Even though he broke my heart over and over again, even though I hate him right now, the first thing I felt when you said he was your father was happiness."

She stared sobbing again. Her hands on her face. I had to remind myself she was eighteen here. Almost the same age as Sasha and I. I could understand her frustration with Dimitri.

I was still reeling from the realization that she broke someone out of a high security prison. Adrian had often joked that our mother was a real trouble maker. But I had assumed normal put dishwasher soap in the fountain kind of trouble maker, not breaking someone out of a security prison trouble maker. My mother was a criminal. Suddenly Sasha made a whole lot more sense to me.

"I mean I know I am with Adrian and I shouldn't even care, but would a thank you have been too much to ask. Or even common curtesy? Argh. I know there are bigger things to worry about now, instead of my screwed up love-life, but still."

I smiled.

"Well we are living proof that things will work out. But I imagine it isn't easy for him. He prided himself on protecting people and keeping in control, losing that would have been hard for him. He would have lost not just his soul, but his entire identity. Just give him time to connect with who he was."

I knew how he felt because I would feel the same way. Whenever I felt out of control of my abilities, when I would let the beast to close to the surface, my first instincts where to keep away from the people I loved.

She looked at me and smiled back. She was taking me in. I could almost hear her thoughts of how stupid she was for not recognizing me as her daughter. Sasha is pretty obvious too, but looking at my mother it was almost like looking into a mirror.

"You did get my stunning good looks, you are a bit taller than me though, should have been my first clue."

The last part she mumbled under her breath, and yeah that was a dead give away. I was almost reaching Moroi height and Sasha was taller than any Dhampir I knew and most Moroi.

"So is the fact you two can do that Strigoi thing because Dimitri was once a Strigoi? Because he would love that. And how did you kill that Strigoi anyway. They usually don't die from a sword, unless you hack their heads off."

Yeah I could imagine him feeling guilty about providing the ground work for our powers, certainly if he was in guilt mode at the moment.

"It is a long story, and the sword works because it is made of charmed silver. Sasha's too. Cost a fortune. But they are much handier in a fight then a stake."

Grandpa Abe had them crafted a few years back. The shear amount of silver worked into these blades was astonishing. Sydney worked in some mineral which not only strengthened the silver but also retained their magic longer. It meant that I could simply pierce a Strigoi and it would be the same as staking. Of course it also worked well for decapitating. Adrian had joked we had both had a fascination with it because Mom had killed her first two Strigoi that way.

"Huh. That is awesome."

I giggled.

"So you and Sasha have a lot of friends?"

I nodded.

"We grew up with Declan and Dani as our brother and sister pretty much. Eric has been our best friend since we were born. I even have a document saying that we were already slotted to be his guardian before we were even born. Has the queen's signature and everything. Rosie, Eric's sister is kind of like our little sister too, she is adorable."

"Eric is the black haired boy?"

I nodded again.

"Christian's and Vasilisa's son. Vasilisa named Rosie after you."

"Well I can't imagine she called her Rosie, I hated that nickname."

"No she is called Rose, we made the distinction, so when we talk about Rose we know we are talking about you and not her."

"So where are they anyway?"

I looked down at the ground. This wasn't going to be easy to hear. I wondered how much I could tell her about Vasilisa?

"Christian died a few months after you two did. Wasn't even on a mission. He and his two guardians were drained when he had some business outside of the wards. He didn't get so see Rosie be born. Rose Christina Dragomir."

Rose had a forlorn expression on her face. I guess she didn't realize exactly how bad this world was.

"And Lissa?"

I knew it was her best friend. I knew she had been a great Queen before. But it was hard to talk about her. I knew she wanted to hear she was safe and she was fine. She was safe but she wasn't fine. Not in the least.

"Lunch!"

It was funny how both our heads turned around fast at the call from Sasha about food. Talk about Vasilisa temporarily forgotten. Nothing could motive a Hathaway like food. Even if we were officially Belikov's we had the Hathaway genes when it came to food.

RPOV

Food, just what I needed. My mind was going a mile a minute. My kids were fighting at the forefront of the apocalypse. And their father was in the same room trying to eat a sandwich they had made. I saw he was having trouble eating. It seemed almost strange for him to be chewing. I suppose after four months on a liquid diet it meant chewing food was foreign. I think in that moment I realized how damaged by his time as a Strigoi he was. He couldn't even accept food as normal how could he accept me. Maybe I shouldn't judge him harshly, maybe he needed time. Maybe he needed a kick in the ass to snap him out of it and back to the person he was.

I also hadn't missed the fact nobody wanted to talk about Lissa. I would deal with that after lunch. I would get my answers one way or the other.

As I looked around the table there was an odd sense of comradery. They were a family even if they weren't all bound by blood. It was nice to know, but also left me a little hallow, we weren't able to be a part of it because we were six feet under being eaten by worms.

Adrian was sitting next to Sydney. As I was looking at them I saw he was genuinely happy, the same was reflected in Sydney. It was strange because I know her as a bit of a vampire phobe. I wondered what had happened to Sydney that now she was married to one. And as far as illegal romances go it put mine and Dimitri's Dhampir-Dhampir and student-teacher relationship to shame. But I could see they were made for each other. I could also see that Adrian and I weren't and I should have known that from the beginning. I didn't know where and how Dimitri and I would end up but I knew that when we got back I had to break up with Adrian. He deserved this kind of love, not the fantasy we were both trying desperately to hold onto.

Dani was looking better. She had looked exhausted after the spell but now after some rest and food she was perking up. I saw a lot of Sydney in her, both in her looks as well as her demeanor. But her green eyes left no question as to who her father was. It was actually quite funny seeing Adrian's daughter so demure. I would have expected a spoiled little princess, but as I was looking at the current Adrian I knew it had been a long time since he himself had been a party animal. I hoped it had been the influence of his wife but I wondered how much this broken world was a factor in Adrian's new demeanor.

They had explained the situation with Declan. How he came to be and how he ended up with Adrian and Sydney. It also told me how it was possible to have kids with Dimitri. Declan being adopted explained a lot about the difference in appearance. But even if his looks were completely different, they did give off a vibe of family. And I even saw some mannerisms he and Dani had in common. I suppose Declan was a prime example of nurture versus nature.

Rosie was another remarkable specimen, like her brother she had the Dragomir eyes, but her hair was actually a mix between the platina blond from Lissa and the black from Christian, it resulted in a nice brunette with lots of highlights. She was about fourteen-fifteen. I had seen that Eric took after his father elemental wise and I wondered what Rosie specialized in. I saw a bit of the gentleness of Lissa in her but also the fierceness of Christian.

Although specializations of the elements aren't strictly hereditary, you often see common elements shared in families. The Ozera's being predominantly fire-users, but for instance the Dashkov Royal line had a majority of earth users.

"So who else made it through the end of the world?"

I asked almost dreading the answer.

"Actually Abe and Janine, so did Eddie and even Hans is still alive, old but alive."

"Hans?"

"Hans croft, the head guardian."

"Oh."

Don't get me wrong I was glad he was still alive, I had meant from our friends and family, but maybe we would get closer to Hans over the next few years.

I was done eating and now that the matter of hunger was settled I was determined to get to the bottom of the Lissa situation.

"I am glad to know my parents and Eddie are alright, Lera already mentioned they trained them, but what about Lissa, you all have been beating around the bush. What happened, where is she?"

I saw everyone look down at the table. Nobody seemed to want to answer me. I heard Adrian sigh deeply.

"You better come with me."

I saw Dimitri stand up with me as well. Of course his precious Lissa. He couldn't be bothered to even look at me but he revered her. Because apparently she saved him and I did nothing but sit on the sidelines and watch.

Adrian took us silently through bends and turns. We went down a few stairs and I started to recognize this place. Dimitri seemed to recognize it too if the change in his body language was any indication. I could practically feel him cringe beside me. Adrian was taking us to the cells.

Adrian sighed deeply before he opened the last door.

The cells were empty except for one. And in that cell Lissa sat on the ground rocking back and forth. She had aged dramatically. While Adrian seemed to have aged like whine, getting better with time, Lissa aged like bread, she was now stale and molded. Her platina blond hair was grey even if she was only in her forties, and it lacked the shine it once had. Her skin was pale and dry and the wrinkles around her eyes looked like canyons. But the utmost worst thing about her was her eyes, the once lively green was now murky and she didn't even seem to realize we were there, she didn't seem to register anything. My best friend, my sister had gone insane.

"What happened to you?" I softly asked Lissa, even though I seemed to be the only one to hear it.

"You locked her up after she went insane?" Dimitri's voice accusatory towards Adrian. And I had half expected Adrian to just roll his eyes, but he became angry, very angry.

"We didn't lock her up because she went insane, she went insane because we locked her up."

"Why would you do that?" I asked dreading the answer.

"Because she deserved it. After Christian died she became obsessed with the vaccine. She had learned that Declan was sired by two Dhampirs, one normal and one restored a few months before, and after Christian died she saw he held the stable spirit component that was needed to create the vaccine. She pleaded with us to use Declan in experiments to perfect the vaccine and when we declined she took him anyway. We searched for months before we found him hold up in a facility to extract his blood. For months she used him. He was ten, fucking ten. After that we took her crown and her freedom. But the damage was already done. There was enough vaccine to inoculate the population and without a queen and the world dividing, the Strigoi declared war."

The bitterness and hate was radiating off of Adrian. They had been friends too, but I suppose that if you take someone's son you really forfeit that friendship.

"Why wouldn't there be a queen anymore, what does Tatiana have to do with this?"

I asked focusing on the other parts of the story as opposed to the fact that my gentle best friend had tortured a child.

"Tatiana wasn't queen anymore, Lissa was. And for about ten years it was great, she was a fair and gentle queen, the world became a better place under her rule. Until she destroyed it."

I just stared at him. Lissa became queen, and by the sounds of it, pretty soon in our timeline. That was just crazy.

"And you think that if we live, Lissa won't hurt Declan?"

Adrian nodded.

"I know you were worried about Lissa hurting the twins, because even if their blood can't be used for the vaccine because of the interference from Strigoi blood, she still suggested using them in experiments, it is why you decided to name us godparents instead of Lissa and Christian. I think if you survived you would be able to reason with her stop her from taking Declan. Also if Dimitri lives he would still guard Christian and I doubt he would have died. So yeah I think you two surviving would solve a lot of problems."

I think he was right. I would have never let Lissa do that, I would have talked her out of it, somehow.

"Declan now volunteers to have the vaccine manufactured from him together with my spirit. Declan understand how important it is to the world, so he has been volunteering since he was fifteen. The point is _he_ made the choice, not Lissa. If she had just waited until he was old enough to understand and make an informed decision all this could have been avoided."

He looked tired after he said that. It must be frustrating for them to know how different the world could be if only a few things hadn't happened.

For me it was frustrating to see how a few things destroyed Lissa. I knew I had always taken care of her, I had always been protective of her. After Dimitri was turned and she practically demanded for me to stay with her instead of going after him I had known I wasn't just her guardian or her friend, I was also her keeper, and apparently without me as her babysitter she would unhinge. Story of my life.

We had to right a lot of wrongs.


	4. Chapter 4

**Dear Guest reviewer. That is exactly what is happening. They can't save this world anymore, but when they are send back to their own time they can prevent it from happening. It also allows me to screw up this world completely, seeing as it will be overwritten.**

Chapter 4:

DPOV

I was still reeling from the realization that they locked Lissa up. There was a distinct protective streak inside of me towards Lissa. Not only because she had been my charge once, but also because she saved me. I think the latter meant I wouldn't let anyone near her. But how could I protect her from her own actions. I never thought she was capable of that. She was invested in Spirit and in healing the world, but that she would go so far as to torture a child. I couldn't reconcile that idea and that Lissa in that cell with the one who had saved me.

I was relieved when we excited the cells. I didn't know what bothered me more. The fact I had been in that exact same cells only days before or if my saving angel was locked up there now, and apparently deserved to be there.

"Well on that depressive note, why don't I give you the grand tour? You'll be here for at least a few days so I suppose you should know where to go and where… not to go."

Adrian seemed to shake off the bad vibes from Lissa and walked out of the cells and into the fresh air. He took one or two big breaths before he seemed back to himself.

Rose walked beside him and I a few meters back. I knew the roles should be reversed but they seemed so natural together, talking and smiling. Rose smiles around him, she doesn't smile around me. I knew Adrian was happy with Sydney, you could see the love radiating off of him. I didn't see the same in him towards Rose, I also didn't see the same in Rose towards him, which I suppose is a little odd when they are technically still dating. But they had an easy going relationship. Even if I wasn't sure how and if I wanted a romantic relationship with her again, I knew I wanted to be around her and make her smile.

"So this is the old library. Most books were lost, and the rest where located to the royal library, but it still has some old steel book columns we now mostly use as a safe room."

I looked around court. There was a wide range of buildings in varying degrees of disarray. Some buildings just looked abandoned and some looked like they were burned down. But not many looked like they still contained occupants.

"How many people are still staying here?"

I was curious. Court had once been the largest congregation of Moroi anywhere in the world. Now it was all but abandoned. I half expected a bale of hay to come flying by. But maybe I was reading too many western novels again.

"Not many, the current count is seventy three. Mostly Dhampirs, former guardians, and some Moroi that were used to fighting Strigoi. Rosie is the youngest here. Court was the most targeted place, so many non-fighters have left. They are either living anonymously in the human world or have formed communes with the Dhampirs."

"How did it get like this though? How did it go from the most secure place in the world to this?"

Rose gestured around her. We were in a clearing that I think once had been a square. You would think a thousand years had passed and not only twenty-five.

Adrian looked to the dark sky as if it would take away the damage twenty-five years had done. Not just the structural damage but the emotional damage as well. For the first time I saw Adrian look saddened and almost broken. I cringed a bit, here I was feeling sorry for myself when others had gone through so much more than me and were still standing and fighting the good fight. What have I been doing since being given a second chance: wallowing.

"It started a few months after the vaccine was distributed, there was a breach. Humans had been hired by Strigoi to break the wards. The attempt had been rather organized. They failed, we had a much larger force and they had believed a handful of Strigoi would be enough to take court. It wasn't. The damage was repaired but then the debating started. Lissa was already dethroned and the council was now making all the decisions. I had taken over my father's council seat a few months before. We couldn't come to any kind of agreement. Normally Lissa could talk some sense into them, but without Lissa and without the royal vote we all had equal votes. And because Jill had taken the the Dragomir seat it meant we had an even number of seats. No decisions were made."

He sighed deeply. I could understand, there were a lot of events leading up to the end of our world but the indecision of the council had been one of them.

"Jill? Jill Mastrano? Why did Jill take the Dragomir seat?"

Adrian looked over at Rose and realization crossed his face. He seemed to be constantly surprised because we didn't know anything. It wasn't our fault, it hasn't happened yet.

"Jill Mastrano Dragomir, she is Eric's illegitimate daughter. Lissa didn't know until she was eighteen. Probably only a few weeks away in your time. She needed Jill's existence to be able to take the throne."

Ah yes, the quorum law. Stupid but I suppose it would mean opposition to Lissa taking the throne could halt her ascension. Rose however, seemed oblivious to our laws. The look on her face almost comical as she was asking Adrian more about that.

"Long story, you'll figure it out. Anyway, the council was so busy with either getting armies of willing Dhampirs and Moroi trained or enslaving Dhampirs and non-royal Moroi to fight and trying to keep guardians from leaving us because now they could have children of their own, that we simply weren't ready when the next wave hit. The attack a few months before had been a test. To see the response time and map out weak spots in our defense. We weren't ready and they destroyed our forces in a few hours. Luckily the sun came up and we were able to keep the palace. But a lot of lives were lost and most of those that survived fled. See for the Strigoi they don't want court as a living place. When most Moroi fled there wasn't really any use in them staying around. They go were the food is. To them it was about showing us that they could. Occasionally they still raid court now. Most times out of fun, sometimes to try and locate our vaccine lab and destroy it. But they had what they were after. They divided and conquered. There are some new strongholds out there. There is one a few hours from here. Set up by the keepers. They were willing to take any refugees in. I think their expertize with fighting Strigoi the 'old way' is the only reason why we aren't extinct already. The intensity has picked up though. Once everyone was inoculated and the Moroi and Dhampir were no longer a food supply for them, they made it their mission to destroy us all. Although there are some rumors that there are Dhampir and Moroi farms where they are bred as livestock and eaten when ready. But we have never been able to substantiate those rumors."

I didn't think they were true. It would mean Strigoi needed patience. They would need breeding pairs and would have to wait for them to mature enough to get enough blood. Maybe they tried, but one hungry Strigoi who was tired of waiting and the system would have been wiped out.

We walked a little further, Adrian explaining as he went what building used to be and which ones we could enter and which ones were on the point of collapse. He also pointed out some homes of people. We didn't move very close to them. Adrian said not a lot of people knew we were here and he would like to keep it that way. But most people lived around the palace. Safety in numbers.

I stopped dead in my tracks. Something occurred to me.

"What about Baia? Is it still safe?"

I looked down at the ground not wanting to see the look on Adrian's face which may betray an awful truth. But when I finally did look up he had a soft smile on his face.

"They are fine. Baia is one of the strongholds, they get the occasional desperate attack but your family is fine. Paul and Viktoria fight in their army and your mother works there as a nurse. Lera and Sasha talk to them regularly."

I nodded. A huge weight I didn't know I was carrying just lifted off of my shoulders. I hoped we could change the past so they didn't have to live in fear, but I was glad to know they were fine at least for now.

Adrian walked back a few meters and placed his hand on my shoulder, a strange but comforting gesture.

"They miss you though."

I didn't miss his message in that either. He wasn't just talking about that they miss me now. They were missing me in my own time as well. I haven't told them I was alive again. And I asked that nobody tell them. I wasn't ready yet. But I was being selfish again. They would be mourning. They deserved to know I was alive even if I wasn't the same man I was before I was turned.

I nodded but looked away, not wanting him to see the shame in my eyes.

We kept walking a bit and we came upon a beautiful park. It was a large contrast to the broken buildings around us. But the park was green with blooming flowers and green trees and it seemed to be meticulously kept. The place gave off a sense of serenity. It was almost a tangible thing I could feel in the air. It was mixed with something else though. Sadness?

"Why is there a park here?"

Rose asked obviously finding it as strange as I did.

But when I looked at Adrian's face and saw it fall I knew this wasn't a park. And I realized why they were keeping it nice and neat. It was the last resting place of a lot of people. It was a graveyard.

Adrian walked with us across the park and Rose seemed to realize what this park meant as well. There were individual graves with names on them for those that had remains to be buried. There were plaques for those that couldn't be buried. Those that were turned or taken.

She stopped at a particular plaque and I saw her visibly pale. I walked next to her wondering which fallen warrior had caught her attention.

"Here lies guardian Stan Yancey Alto." A date of birth and death next to it with seven molnija marking his grave. Not bad Stan.

"His middle name was Yancey? Now wonder he was wound tighter then a ball of yarn."

I knew she was trying to use humor to override the feeling of grief for an old instructor, but she was failing. As she looked down at his empty grave for the first time she seemed to grasp the severity of the destruction of this world and our responsibility in saving it.

"He did always seem to be angry, even when there was nothing to be angry about. This would explain it."

I saw her smile a little at my comment. But it didn't reach her eyes.

"Although I think the fact he was teaching Bodyguard Theory and Personal Protection 3 was more of a cause for his ever sour mood."

"Yeah, that was so boring, I even think _he_ fell asleep teaching it a few times."

I chuckled. That had happened once while I was there and Rose had never let him forget it. Of course it meant she had gotten a large amount of homework to compensate for it. I still remembered her bitching about it in training.

"There was an actual pool game with bets on who had to take that class. I volunteered a few time to watch you but otherwise I never guarded that class if I could help it. I am a good pool player."

Rose turned around and looked at me and she had a wide grin on her face.

"You watched me huh?"

I blushed a little. I hadn't meant it like that, I had meant that in the beginning I had to evaluate her skills and personality as to figure out if she could be a good guardian and how to approach her in training. But no matter what I would say to her now, she would never believe me. Although if I was honest with myself I did do a lot more looking then I should have during those sessions. I tried to ignore Rose as best as I could while I continued to reminisce about good old Stan.

"When he found out about the pool games he was furious. I had seen Stan get mad before especially when you are concerned Rose, but it was a little funny seeing it directed at his colleagues as well. His head got beetroot red and I thought I could actually see steam come out of his ears. He actually tattled on us to Alberta, who looked serious when she addressed us but had been secretly in on the pool bets. She just placed money on who would have to guard Stan's class next."

"Oh that is nothing, beetroot red? Steam? I had him burst like a volcano once. He actually started spitting he was so mad. Well maybe I would be mad too if two of my students had broken into my class and had replaced his copy of 'Bodyguard Theory and Personal Protection' with one with slightly altered text. I swear it took Mason and me forever to pull of that prank, but you know he basically reads the book out loud to teach us right, so we changed some words in there and it took him an entire page before he realized that he was reading what could be described as veiled pornography."

I chuckled. That did sound like Rose and knowing Stan he would have blown up alright.

"So how long did you get detention for that?"

She smiled like a Cheshire cat at me.

"I didn't get any, they couldn't prove it was us, no matter how much Stan pleaded for us to be punished, Alberta said that without evidence they couldn't really punish us."

She seemed so proud of that. Not just the prank but getting away with it too.

We spend the next half hour talking about our mutual encounters with Stan. One more hilarious than the other. Rose was nearly laughing on the ground when I mentioned a certain shower incident and may have overshared that Stan had another reason to be perpetually grumpy.

It felt good just talking with her like that, laughing with her. Even if she found the horrible horrible things she had done to Stan over the years a lot more funny then I did, I was glad to know we could still interact normally with each other, as long as it wasn't about us.

After a while we turned back the plaque.

"He was a horrible teacher, but he had heart for the cause. He wanted us to be prepared."

"He did. I think he was bitter because he couldn't guard anymore, because he had gotten to old. He would never admit it. I don't even think I agreed. But his charge had switched him out when he felt he was getting to old and Stan couldn't get any other allocation because of it except at the academy. I am glad he was able to fight again even if the end result was him dying."

We walked back towards the palace via a different route. We came passed a building that wasn't just abandoned and neglected over the years but was completely destroyed.

"It looks like a bomb when off in here."

I said as I was surveilling the damage.

Adrian laughed as he responded.

"That is exactly what happened here."

"So this was part of some battle strategy, lure in enough Strigoi and then blow them up?"

Seems a bit risky to me. But desperate times call for desperate measures.

"Haha, no that would have made sense. No this is your son's doing. Him and Eric. This used to be our armory. They were a little too keen to get a look at the new C4 Abe brought in and Eric might have started a little fire. Luckily Eric could make it out with some minor burns his sister could easily heal, but you should have seen Sasha. I am glad he could heal fast, because he wouldn't have been pretty otherwise. They weren't allowed anywhere near anything explosive after that. They should have come with a warning label when they were born. Caution, explosive danger."

The way he said it while laughing made me believe this wasn't the first thing they have blown things up. I hoped it was the biggest.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

RPOV

We would be staying for a few days, so that night we settled in. Unfortunately, they didn't have many spare beds. Even the palace was bare. So it meant that Dimitri and I would share a room. I had protested, but Adrian said it couldn't be helped. Only so many rooms were furnished and only so many rooms could be guarded. I had a feeling the latter was more of a consideration in this world. We had been given stakes at least, so I would sleep a little better tonight. Even if I was sleeping next to Dimitri.

"You really couldn't have put us in separate rooms?"

I asked Adrian. He had a bit of a smirk on his face.

"I could have, but it really is safer on this side of the wing and it is the only available room. It was that or bunking with the kids."

"I think I would have preferred that."

He laughed.

"Just try to hear him out. He knows is being an idiot. I just don't think he knows how not be an idiot at the moment."

I sighed deeply

"Why did you have to take us from that place in time? Why not a year later when I didn't want to kick him in the nuts all the time. Why did you have to take us here after the church?"

He looked anywhere but at me.

"Timing was crucial, we needed to take you from a time where you would still have ample time to prevent what was to come. But I must admit I had some personal reasons too to take you from those few days. I had indicated to Dani your route to your guest apartment. I had indicated the same for Dimitri, it was pure luck we got you both at the same time. I didn't know the exact time we took you but I hoped it would have been before a certain event. After the church I went to your place and I knew how much Dimitri was affecting you. I should have ended it right there and then but I didn't and neither did you. It caused us both heartache down the line. I wanted to try and stop that event as well as to make up for my mistake and maybe save myself a broken heart. I had actually hoped I would have taken you before the church, but I suppose you can't plan everything. The spell isn't that precise.

I sighed deeply.

"Why didn't it work with us?"

He leaned down next to me on the railing I was standing at. His arms resting on the railing.

"You never got over him. I pushed you to hard when you were still morning him. Maybe if he had stayed dead we would have had a chance but I doubt it. I know now that we work better as friends. I now know what real love is. I loved you, I did, but I was missing something I didn't know should be in a relationship until I met Sydney. And I think you are missing it too. I know you loved me, but you just loved him more."

I leaned against me and grabbed his arm while placing my head on his shoulder.

"Thanks for taking care of my children. You raised them well."

He smiled.

"They are good kids, even Sasha, that takes after you way too much. I am kind of glad that their school got destroyed, his record started to reach humongous proportions, I think because he was already slotted to be Eric's guardian and seeing as your mother and Eddie were training them on the side and that they had surpassed all the teachers since they were eight, meant he wasn't really invested in school. Lera though, real sticklers for the rules, no mystery where she got that from."

I sniggered a little at that. I had noticed that even if Lera was my mirror image in looks I did feel more of a Dimitri vibe from her. Sasha though, exuded recklessness and impulsiveness, I am going to pretend that could have come from Dimitri when he was younger.

"Did you raise Eric and Rosie too?"

He nodded.

"It took Lissa a bit to dive into the pool of crazy so at least Rosie was past the night feedings, but yeah Eric was four and Rosie a few months old when Lissa was imprisoned. We took them in."

"So you raised six kids and only one was yours?"

The look on his face was almost comical.

"I never really thought about it like that but yeah. But I would never separate any of them. They need each other."

Lera's POV

I plunked down on the bed next to my brother. It had been a long day. My mind was reeling.

"So disappointed or not."

My brother, always the subtle one.

"Not really disappointed, but not what I was expecting."

"I know what you mean, they aren't even together right now. She is dating Adrian. I mean I knew that but still…"

He physically shuddered. Yeah when we found the old picture book with a photo of mom kissing Adrian, we had both been shocked and a little grossed out. He had explained they dated briefly but it didn't really work out.

"I always imagined our Dad to be strong and caring and overprotective but he seems a mess right now."

"Well he was just turned back from a Strigoi, that has got to have an effect on someone, and did you see that when we were attacked by Strigoi this morning he did step in front of Mom. I mean I don't think she appreciated the gesture but still."

I giggled, yeah I noticed that too and if what we knew from our mother was correct, she really didn't need his protection.

"So have you had any inkling if them being here would actually be helping?"

I had always had a knack for knowing things I shouldn't. Adrian said our great grandmother Yeva had the same gift. Adrian had met her once and told me I had the same look in my eyes, she died a few hours before we were born and we had a suspicion it was so her power could transfer to me. We talk to grandma Olena sometimes and she always said that Yeva saw images, she wouldn't know what they meant at the time but she could make sense of them once the time was right. I didn't see images, I just knew stuff. I didn't know how, it was as natural to me as knowing the color of grass was green and the sky was blue. So I knew our parents were the key, but I didn't know if this would accomplish what we wanted. Frustrating and useless my gift was.

I just shrugged in response to my brother. His guess was as good as mine.

"So your mom is like totally hot."

Eric was standing in the doorway his arms crossed in front of his chest and his legs crossed at the ankles. He was surprisingly muscular for a Moroi. Although he didn't train as much as we did, he spent a fair amount of his time training. His talents were more in magic, but he made it a point to train his body too, his stamina in magic improved as his stamina in his body did, and he said he needed to learn how to defend himself and be able to read the battlefield. So Eric was a well-trained warrior.

I especially appreciated that.

He plunked down next to me on my bed.

"So you think I am totally hot too then right, she does look like me a lot."

I said smiling.

"Technically you look like her, but yeah, you are smoking."

As way of proving that, he traced a finger tipped with fire over my exposed arm. The slight burning sensation on my skin left behind a nice little tingle. The damage was immediately healed, but the pain from the fire combined with his touch still left me a little aroused.

"And I am out."

My brother got up from the bed and walked towards the door, he walked passed the dresser and picked up a sock. He put it on the doorknob as he left the room.

"When you are done, take it off, and don't leave it on all night, I want to sleep in my own bed for a change."

I giggled as my annoyed brother walked out of the room. He really needed to find a girl of his own.

I turned my attention back to my hot Moroi prince lying beside me.

"So how are you dealing with your parents being here?"

He asked, all signs of the playful boy gone and a serious and concerned look in its place.

"I am okay, it is strange, not only because they are like the same age as us but also because they aren't together right now. It is weird. I always imagined them legends, turns out they are people like the rest of us."

"Is that why you were against Dani doing the spell?"

I sat up a bit and ran my hand through my hair. Funny because I had seen my Dad do the same thing.

Eric started to run his fingers through my long locks which I had freed from their confines a moment ago.

"Maybe a little, but mostly because bringing them here could make things worse. I have seen countless of movies, I know the butterfly effect."

"How could things be worse? We are on the brink of extinction."

"But we are holding on, Strigoi numbers have been plummeting as well. We just have to outlast them. And things could always get worse. We could all be enslaved to royal Moroi, we could be used as lifestock for breeding, we could be dead… We could not be together because society dictates a royal Moroi like you has to continue the Dragomir line."

Eric sat up at my last bit. I knew if my parents succeeded and saved the world, it would look better for everybody except me. Eric couldn't be with me. Maybe if he had been an Ivashkov, things would be different. But he was a Dragomir, His aunt had already settled down with a Dhampir, if he did too it meant only Rosie could continue the Dragomir line. I doubt they would have accepted that.

"Lera, look at me."

Reluctantly I did, I didn't want him to see my eyes glazed over with unshed tears.

"I love you, I will love you in a better future too, and there is nobody that will stop me."

"Not even your mother?"

He was taken aback. He had considered that if we succeeded he would have a mother and father to grow up with. Vasilisa wouldn't be insane, but would she approve? I know she would consider me personally as worthy, but was I enough for her to potentially let the Dragomir line die out? I wasn't going to let that happen anyway. Eric and I could only be together in this world. I knew he wanted his mother back, I knew he would want to grow up with his father, who taught him how to be a warrior instead of a prince even from beyond the grave. But I was selfish and wanted to keep him and I was even considering sacrificing a potential life with his family to accomplish that.

I looked down suddenly ashamed of my own thoughts. He was right, it would be better not just for him but for everyone, so many people could survive, and here I was unwilling to give up my boyfriend. Well at least when they succeed it meant that I wouldn't even remember we were together. Our current lives would be over written with the new ones. Maybe that was for the best.

"Lera, I know things will be different in the other world. But I can't imagine a world where I don't love you."

He lifted my chin up towards him and gentle brushed his lips against mine.

"We have a few more days before we sent them back. If we aren't together in the new world, I want to make the most of the time we have."

He kissed me again and this time the kiss was brutal and demanding. As if indeed we only had a few days left.

His hand moved to my hip and slit under my top. It never seized to amaze me how warm his hands felt on my skin. I didn't know if he did it on purpose, but he seemed to always be hot, temperature wise that is. Not that his lean muscular body topped with black hair and radiant green eyes wasn't stunning.

His eyes always seemed to change color. When he was angry they were dark and murky, when he was happy they were light as grass and when he was aroused like now, they were a deep shade of Jade that promised pleasure.

He lifted me up on his lap and I could feel his erection hitting my core. He never made a secret of wanting me. I think he has been fantasizing about me since I developed boobs. It is kind of strange seeing as we did grow up together as family. But Eric and I never had that natural brother and sister relationship he had with Sasha or I had with Rosie. Deep down we knew that would be highly inappropriate later on. Maybe because even as little kids we were slotted to be his guardians. Not that sleeping with your charge wasn't inappropriate.

I wondered if maybe I could be his mistress in the other world. Sasha and I would still be his guardians, he could get a trophy Moroi wife and occasionally just slip into the guardian quarters. Yeah that would be a fabulous life. Although the thought of him slipping into my bed at night and secretly making love to me did have its appeal.

My top was gone and he was admiring my breasts still in its confines. I swear every time he looked at them he looked like he was fifteen years old again and caught me in the shower the summer I had developed breasts. He had had a hungry look in his eyes then and he had it now. But as a fifteen year old boy he had ran out of the bathroom, holding his hands in front of his erection trying to obscure my view of it, he was now blatantly showing me what my breast did to him. He pushed his hips up into my core. I started to grind on him needing the friction.

Now this is always were it became a little awkward. Sasha and I had a hard time containing our Strigoi-attributes when under the thrall of rage and passion. Well we didn't actually know about Sasha being affected by passion, he would have to find a girl first. But it was safe to assume he suffered from the same as thing I was. But luckily for me Eric could handle me. Probably the only one who wouldn't judge me. Because he too became a little unhinged when things became heated.

My irises were now rimmed in red and the flame touching my skin told me he was getting as swept up in this as I was. Although Eric had a much better control on his abilities, more often than not I would have to heal some burns. I didn't know if he couldn't control himself like me or if he could with much strain but didn't because with me it didn't matter anyway.

He moved us horizontally, me beneath him as he was making work of my pants. All the while playing with my breasts. He licked his was down from my neck towards my cleavage. His hand was moving up from my hip to my ribs to my swelling and heaving breast. His hand and mouth came together at the peak and I lifted my hips up from the mattress to force myself deeper into his mouth. He eagerly took everything I was offering. He was rocking back and forth with his hips against my thigh alerting me to his need as well. I was reaching towards his buckle and ripped it apart. I didn't actually mean to but yeah I was in a heightened state of strength right now.

"Lera, I don't have many of those left."

I just shrugged. To bad for him. I guess he will need to walk around with his pants riding low. Or maybe if I destroyed his pants and boxers as well he would have to walk around naked.

I licked my lips at the image. And as if thinking about made it happen, Eric pushed his pants down and freed himself from the confines of his boxers. I flipped him on his back and admired the view. I got up slightly moving onto my knees so I could take my bra off, next I eased of the bed and slowly and seductively shimmied my pants of. His cock twitched in excitement. Very very slowly I moved the last piece of clothing that graced my body down. He growled, obviously frustrated at how long it was taking me. To bad, I called the shots here. Once completely naked I moved down the bed again on my hands and knees. He wanted to meet me half way, but I gave him a stern look saying I was in charge tonight. He moved back down on the bed. I was hovering over him now. I was straddling him, keeping his strong thighs in check with my own, but still inches away from where he wanted me. I grabbed his member, clearly demanding attention. I was stroking him up and down and Eric closed his eyes and let out a deep moan of pleasure.

"Lera, please, I need you."

I needed him too, but I wanted to torture him a bit more. I bend down as took him into my mouth. I sucked a few times before nipping at him. I grazed the head with my fangs and nicked him. I lapped up the small drop of blood and nearly came right there. The mix of blood and his arousal was intoxicating and sent pleasant and urgent tingles right to my sex.

I didn't need to feed off of anybody but Strigoi. The blood of Moroi, Dhampir or human held no nutritional value, but the instinct was there. It was like feeding and sex came from the same deep place of instincts and urges. The same place where my battle instinct lived. It was why I was always horny after battle. For me fighting, fucking and feeding were intertwined. I never took much from Eric and by the deep guttural moan escaping his chest he didn't mind in the least. But we had been together a few times and he was picking up some scars in his neck, maybe I should feed from a different place this time. But I would leave his cock alone. I needed the blood to keep pumping in there.

I shifted forward again and aligned his hard member with my dripping core. I threw my head back as I took him balls deep in one fell swoop. He bucked his hips up as I did, almost lifting me of the bed at the intensity. I started slowly moving up and down. The intensity picking up quickly. His hand were on my hips now. Guiding me up and down and meeting me halfway to drive his cock home. I could feel the slight tingle on my skin telling me Eric was losing control. I was too, but in this position I didn't have access to his body to feed from. Eric seemed to realize this too and sat up so I could bite his neck. I switched sides this time to prevent scar forming. When I bit down I felt his warm liquid spilling into me, on both sides. The sensation was enough to encourage my own release and I let go of his neck long enough to cry out in ecstasy.

We fell down on top of each other when our orgasms had faded. I had burn marks in the form of his fingers on my hips but they were already healing.

"Maybe we do have a chance in the other world. I doubt many Moroi women would let you burn them during sex. Might have to be celibate."

He laughed.

"Yeah definitely not going to happen. And I can control myself if I want to, but it is nice that with you I don't have to. I don't have to hold back and can be myself."

I snuggled a little closer to him.

"We should get dressed a bit and take the sock off before Sasha starts complaining."

I handed Eric one of Sasha's shirts even if it was a little big on him. I pulled on some panties and my own shirt and took the sock of the door and snuggled back into bed with him.

"You should let Rosie heal some of those wounds in your neck, people might start to notice."

He looked at me almost scandalous.

"You want me to ask my innocent fourteen year old sister to heal love bites from you that I got while having sex with you? I don't think so. Besides I have no problem with people seeing that you take me as your own. I sometimes wish the burns on you wouldn't heal so easily so I can show you belong to me too."

He almost growled the last part. But he didn't need to mark me as his. I was his anyway. Now and forever.


	6. Chapter 6

**I am going away this weekend with my extended family. I don't know what the internet will be like. Might be amazing and I'll update as planned and it might be shit and I would actually have to interact with my family ;). We will see.**

Chapter 6:

Sasha's POV

I was standing over the railing watching the garden in daylight. We all lived on nocturnal schedules, so we were awake during most attacks, but I did miss the sun from time to time. When Lera and Eric needed a bit of alone time I would come here and just enjoy the warm rays on my skin. It was almost enough to distract me from the vibes I was getting from my sister, almost.

My sister and I could feel each other physically, not like being spirit bonded. But we were bonded none the less. Maybe because we shared a womb. It was handy in battle because we could track the needs and place of the other. It made us better in a fight, but right now I could feel exactly what she was doing and mostly it left me annoyed and maybe a little riled up myself, but today it made me lonely and sad. I didn't know if Lera and Eric would be able to stay together if we succeeded in reshaping the past. But part of me would be relieved if they broke up. It meant I didn't have to feel her be so happy and complete, while I was alone. I would never sacrifice her happiness for anything, God knows she disserved it but she had found someone that was willing to put up with her quirks in bed and who loved her not just despite her uniqueness but because of it. I only wondered if there was someone like that out there for me.

I wasn't a stranger to the attentions of women, well girls, I had even been on a few dates, but it wasn't meant to be. Even though most Moroi and Dhampirs that were staying at court were soldiers, there just didn't seem to be a connection. They would lick their lips as they saw me, especially on a hot day during training, when I might accidentally take my shirt off, but I never had the need to reciprocate their attentions. Well maybe there was a need. I was a seventeen year old boy, I was always needy, but somehow I wanted my first time to be with someone I really cared about. I am a big softy I know. But I remember feeling what Lera felt when she and Eric did it for the first time. She had been nervous but was also excited and overflowed with love.

I felt disconnected to all those girls. The power we wielded was something they couldn't understand. It didn't just mean we were stronger then everyone, or had the weight of the world on our shoulders, it also made me less… human, well Dhampir. I was a slave to my instinct when in battle and I knew Lera also had a problem controlling her instincts in certain… situations. That kind of raw power, it made me feel like an animal to them but at the same time made me feel like a God. I wasn't like them. I felt connected to my family. Even if they didn't understand it to the full extend they would try and see past that to the real me. But everyone else saw either the animal or the God. I was grateful for my sister, because I knew she experienced the same thing. I was also resentful of her because she had found someone that saw her. I wondered what kind of person could look at me and understand me and want me for me.

My sister got a lot of attention too, I mean even I had to admit she was gorgeous, but somehow boys rarely approached her. Maybe because even early on they had sensed that she belonged with Eric, but I think it was my sister's demeanor that kept everyone at bay. My sister could be… intense. Uncle Eddie had said Dad was the same. He took guarding very seriously and when he was in guardian mode nothing could faze him. She looked at the world like all its problems were her responsibility. Also Lera didn't seem to notice the attentions of the boys as she was too busy planning battle strategies. She seemed unapproachable. I have heard them call her a goddess of war and like a deity; they pray to her but don't actually ask her for anything. And I saw many that were brave enough to try, turn away when she would discuss the battle in gruesome detail. Although personally I think talking of battle and blood and gore was a turn on but I knew not many people shared my vision.

I was glad she had found Eric. Eric had known her before she became all serious and broody. He had known her before the world needed our attention twenty-four seven and because of that he saw her, all of her. All they saw of me was either a good body with endurance or a hard warrior that could protect them. I suppose it was instinct. An evolutionary conserved behavior that let females to the strongest male around to provide for them and their children and ward of invaders. But that wasn't me. Even though Lera and I were strong, our parents had been strong as well, maybe even stronger and they still died. I have no doubt that we will meet our end prematurely like most guardians did. I just hoped before that time I would have experienced love like Lera had. It didn't have to last long, I grew tired of most things pretty quickly. It was hard for anything to hold my attention for long, but I wanted an intense romance. One that would burn my soul and hopefully my body, because living your sister's sex-life vicariously wasn't as fun as it sounds.

I was walking around the yard now still a bit hazed from the orgasm my sister just had. Yeah fucked up, when I saw my father sitting on a bench.

Like me he seemed to be enjoying the sun. The intensity of how much we needed the rays of gold was different though. He seemed to be hungrily absorbing every ray that touched him and I had a feeling that he would panic if the no longer grazed his body.

I sat down next to him.

I was almost as tall as him but still he had an inch or what on me. Based on the statue I always felt little compared to him. He did have a bit more muscle on him, but no doubt I would fill out over the next few years to rival his physique. But the man that was sitting next to me looked small. His shoulders hunched forwards. He looked like he was ashamed to be in the presence of light even if he craved it so.

"So how are you dealing with the whole 'we need to save the future or the world is going to hell in a handbasket' thing?"

He sighed deeply.

"I don't know if I am able to help anyone right now let alone save the world, or get Roza back."

He was feeling sorry for himself. Lera had mentioned she understood why he did it, why he was withdrawn. Lera always resembled him more, but I didn't understand. I had gotten my mother's demeanor and I almost felt as agitated by his behavior as she was.

"You get her back by realizing she can make her own decisions and can protect herself. She isn't just mad because you rejected her. She is mad because you think you know what is best for her without any of her input. Shouldn't she determine if she thinks you are still a threat to her? Shouldn't she see if she could trust you again?"

He looked at me a bit shocked. I could see he hadn't even considered that.

"How can I aspect her to forgive me and trust me after what I have done."

"Not your choice to make, do you love her?"

He looked down at his hands, as if the answer was located in the lines of his palms.

"Yes."

"Do you want to be with her?"

"Yes."

"Then let her figure out the rest."

He nodded but I didn't know if I had reached him or not.

"What are you doing out here anyway, shouldn't you be asleep?"

"Oh trust me I shouldn't be anywhere near Lera's room right now, and you don't want to know why."

When he looked at me again I could see the change in his demeanor. From the broken man he was a moment ago to a protective father. The change was almost comical, if not directed at my best friend, because no matter how much he was defiling my sister he was still my best friend.

"Well she is occupied at the moment."

His eyes narrowed. Yeah he was going to kill Eric.

"With who?"

His voice was dark and deep and I suddenly understood why he was a legend. The sheer power that he exuded in those words were enough to make anyone cower before him. I also understood a bit better how he had been as a Strigoi and how he would feel guilty about that. He would have been formidable.

"Eric and Lera are sort of a thing."

His gaze darkened at the mention of Eric.

"He is a good guy and loves her, honestly they are made for each other, he treats her well."

"She is seventeen, she shouldn't be treated, well or otherwise, by anyone."

I raised an eyebrow. He and mom got together when she was seventeen. And at least Eric and Lera were both seventeen. He seemed to notice I called bullshit on that one.

"Right, but still."

Yeah overprotective father it was. It was kind of cute. At least it wasn't directed at me.

I got up as I noticed Lera had fallen asleep.

"You should get some sleep. It has been a long day."

He merely sighed deeply.

I got back to our room and saw the sock was gone. I entered quietly knowing she was asleep. Eric was still next to her but at least they were wearing clothes. There was a tinge of loneliness again as I saw my sister in a cocoon made of her loves arms.

DPOV

I reluctantly got back to Rose and my room. She was already asleep. I had given her some privacy so we wouldn't need to go to sleep in awkward silence. I wondered if Sasha was right. Maybe I should let Rose decide if she could still stand to be around me.

But as I was watching her and hearing her dream, my heart fell.

"No Dimitri, please don't, don't…"

She was dreaming off Russia no doubt. I wondered what she was dreaming about, me feeding off of her or me trying to kill her. No, Sasha was wrong. She was still haunted by what happened as much as I was. The best I could do was give her space. I got ready for bed but as I lay down I couldn't find the peace I needed for sleep. Most nights were torturous for me, because I would dream of the horrible things I had done, but now I was also kept awake by the small moans of pain coming from Rose, reminding me of the monster I had been with her.

RPOV

I didn't look forward to sleep. Although I had been getting better the last few months, more often than not I would dream of the caves. And tonight it was no different.

I would dream of the moment Dimitri was taken from me. The moment Nathan sank his teeth into him. The moment I saw the last piece of his body leave my field of vision. The last time I had seen love in his eyes towards me. It wasn't always the events of the cave as they happened. Sometimes I broke free of my mother and Stan and went after him only to be met with the sight of his dead body. But no matter the events my imagination came up with, it ended up always the same. Him dead and gone and me alone and broken. That had been the moment he had broken me. The moment he left me, even if I knew he didn't mean to. It meant the moment in church had hurt that much more, because it was him that had rejected me. It had been Dimitri that left me like he had in the caves. I would beg him to stay, I would plead and cry and howl at him not to leave me as I saw his body being dragged into hell.

"No Dimitri, please don't, don't… _leave me._ "

But he always did.

It took me most of the night to get to some peaceful dreams. In the morning I had a hard time waking up. I groaned as I opened my eyes. Dimitri was already up and straightening his bed. Really? This was a post-apocalyptic world. I doubt anybody cared if he made his bed.

But I needed to find some common ground with him again. I needed him to at least accept me in his life again. If only for the twins. I didn't know how we would ever get to having kids in our time, but I could do something for my children now. Their disappointed looks of seeing exactly who their parents were, wasn't lost on me. They must have been fantasizing about their parents for years, knowing them as fierce warriors who had each other's backs no matter what. And that is what I saw when I looked at the statue over our graves. Warriors, who earned their battle stars and who obviously loved each other very much.

But this is what they got, a guilt ridden father and a bitter mother. They deserved better.

"Morning."

I said and got a mumbled 'morning' in reply. He wasn't even looking at me. Well there went the idea that maybe we could be civil towards each other for our future children.

I glared at him with my hands on my hips.

"Would you at least pretend that you could tolerate my presence in front of our children? I want them to have some happy memories of us when we leave."

Dimitri looked at me with pained eyes, and I saw guilt wash over them, guilt because in wallowing in his own guilt he thought he should have been more considerate towards his children who don't even remember us. Great, now he was feeling guilty for feeling guilty.

I shook my head and let out an exasperated sigh. I left the room without another word and went in search of food.


	7. Chapter 7

**So wifi sucks but my brother made a hotspot out of his phone. He had basically unlimited data, so thanks bro. Totally sleep deprived. On holiday in a cabin with three small children (my 11 month old, my brothers 10 month old and his 2 year old son), spells sleep deprivation. Not the smartest idea we have had. When one would finally sleep the other would go off.**

Chapter 7:

RPOV

Eric, Lera and Sasha were already at what I assumed was the kitchen table. Lera and Sasha were wolfing down their food and Eric was simply admiring the view as he was taking small and civilized bites of his own food.

"There is some food on the counter, and there is milk in the fridge."

Eric informed me, never taking his eyes off of Lera who looked at him with a mix of love and annoyance. I bet there is something going on there.

I grabbed some food and sat down next to my children and started to inhale the food. We must have looked comical, three in a row, almost completely in sync with scoffing down anything eatable in sight. If there was a sport of synchronized eating, we would have won.

Dimitri came in and I saw him staring at the tree of us. For the first time in days he didn't seem to be repulsed by my presence and even had a sort of fondness in his eyes. When his gaze travelled to Eric who had a similar look, his eyes darkened and honed in on him. I could hear a growl escape his throat and recognized it as overly protective. Yeah definitely something going on between Eric and Lera.

"I was thinking maybe the four of us could do something together today. Adrian said Dani would need a few days to recuperate before she can send us to our own time and I would like to get to know my own children a little."

I said a little hesitant to hear their and Dimitri's reaction.

They looked from Dimitri to me and back.

"That would be amazing. I would actually like to get to know you two as well."

Lera said.

"So anything you two want to do?"

Lera shared a look with Sasha and he nodded.

"Well there is something we have always liked to do with you guys, but never could."

I nodded, urging her to continue. I was expecting maybe some childhood fantasies about us taking them to the park or reading a bedtime story. Those were certainly the fantasize I had as a child when I was thinking of spending time with my mother. But their answer shouldn't have surprised me.

"We would like to train with you."

I looked over at Dimitri. He seemed a little hesitant but after the guilt he felt this morning he couldn't refuse them.

"We would love too."

And with that it was settled. After breakfast they gave us some training gear to wear and they led us to the gym at court. I had only been here once before but I doubt that it had looked like this. Part of the roof had collapsed and the back wall was non-existent. Probably why the roof had collapsed. But there were mats on the floor, dummies in the rear and some training stations at the back. All the ingredients one would need for training.

"Let's warm up first with a run."

Dimitri said and all three of us nodded.

We ran across court. I had to focus on my running because if I would pay too much attention to court I would keel over from depression. This is the world my children lived in. We would have to change this.

Lera and Sasha were up ahead setting the pace and it was a brisk pace too. But they didn't seem to notice, they were happily conversing with one another as if they were walking instead of running. But I was well trained and could keep up with them. I saw Dimitri wasn't having any problems either, his long legs meant it wasn't taking so much effort on his part anyway.

We got back to the gym after about a five mile run. A little longer then my usual round but not tiring yet.

"You kept up with running?"

Dimitri asked as we entered the gym again.

I nodded. I would never stop running, not only was Dimitri right in teaching me how to run, it was also a vital part of surviving. But Dimitri seemed shocked I would keep up with a practice that he had taught me and might remind me of him. He was an idiot. Thinking of him didn't hurt half as much as not thinking off him. I desperately held on to anything I could from a time with Dimitri were we happy.

"So Dad, I have always wanted to know how you did this one move."

Sasha started to explain which move he meant and I saw Dimitri being pulled out of his own depressive thoughts and into mentor mode. I didn't know if Sasha did it on purpose but when he looked over to me and winked I knew he had been.

Dimitri was explaining how to do the move and correct him when he did it wrong. I knew the move well. It was a move he used often against me because it took advantage of his height. It would have been difficult to execute for me, but for Sasha it would be perfect.

"You know he is going to use that in a fight with me now, right."

Lera was standing next to me her arms crossed over her chest.

"Come on I'll show you a move to counter it."

I showed Lera how to deal with Sasha's extended reach. When I was done her eyes shown bright. One part adoration for her mother and fierce warrior she was always told I was, and one part mischief because I just handed her the tools to take her brother down.

After about half an hour Sasha and Dimitri came over to us.

"Yo big sis, Totally going to take you down. Dad showed me this awesome move."

He had the biggest grin on his face and I even Dimitri was smiling.

"Nu-uh. Mom showed me how to counter it. So I am still going to wipe the floor with you."

He was interested in the challenge.

They moved down to the mat and started without a word between them. The one knowing exactly what the other wanted and was doing. The easy way they moved together showed how often they trained together.

Dimitri and I were standing to the side a little apart. We were watching them with pride, but we were watching each other awkwardly. Normally I would stand closer to him, probably make an inappropriate comment and Dimitri would sigh but still have a ghost of a smile on his face. But now he just kept looking over at me but not knowing what to say. I was rubbing my arm awkwardly trying to find use for the idle limp that wanted nothing more than to simply hold his hand.

They were mostly just using their own techniques trying to find an opening to use the ones we taught them. Sasha saw an opening and went for it. Lera tried to counter but both of them missed the mark.

I guess we would have to show them. Almost in a similar matter to Lera and Sasha we moved in sync to the mat. I didn't even ask him if he wanted to show them, we just did it.

Once on the mat, there was a strange silence that didn't used to be there. I hated that it was there. Even when I was frustrated with Dimitri, even when I was angry we always were able to relate to each other in sparring. But I suppose the events of the last few months were too strong to ignore even here.

He had to start and perform the move. He first did it in slow motion so Sasha could see his movements clearly and for me to move slowly as well so Lera could follow mine. It is very similar to how we used to train. Whenever he used to show me a new technique he would start out slow so I could adjust. It was no different now.

Once they nodded they got it we picked up the pace. He would charge and I would counter, he would counter in return and before we know it we were sparring. The sensation was awfully freeing. If we couldn't get our feelings out with our voices we would use our bodies. The rhythm came easily, as if our bodies remembered that they belonged together.

It had never been our bodies that were the problem. It had been us, trying to stay away from each other for Lissa, trying to do the right thing. Trying to kill each other. Maybe we should just let our bodies do the talking. We seemed to be much better at it. Also Dimitri couldn't piss me off by saying he should stay away for my own protection and I couldn't say something that made Dimitri retreat.

We needed this. This small sense of normalcy.

I was starting to enjoy this. It had been a long time since Dimitri and I sparred. Fighting to the death, sure that wasn't so long ago but sparring like this had been a while and I felt complete.

I felt Lera's and Sasha's gaze as they bored into us. I wondered if they were focused on our fighting styles or on the fact we seemed to be in sync now rather than trying to avoid the other.

The pace was picking up and we were in the home stretch now. I really needed this win. I really wanted to take some aggression out on Dimitri and show him I was capable of handling my own shit and I didn't need him to make decisions for me.

I kicked his legs from under him and he plummeted to ground. I was on top of him straddling him before he had a chance to get up or move away. I placed my hand over his heart.

"Dead."

I whispered breathlessly. I was bend over him, my one hand next to his face keeping from crashing into him and the other still placed over his heart. I could feel his heartrate going haywire. The same was happening to mine. They seemed to be beating in sync. Treacherous bodies of ours. I was reminded of the last time we were in this kind of position after sparring when he attacked me in the field test. And I think he was reminded too. For the first time since he was turned back he didn't have guilt in his eyes but lust. At first he was focusing on my face at least, well probably my swollen lips, but I saw his gaze dip towards the swell of my breast where they were moving up and down in a rigorous pace after our sparring match.

He caught himself starring and looked the other way. The clear arousal in his eyes once again replaced by shame and guilt.

My own lust in my eyes was replaced by anger as I got up. I tried to hide it but I think it seeped through. I saw Dimitri slumping even more, no doubt taking my anger was a reaction to his lustful eyes rather these eyes of a man ashamed.

"Well that was fun. I worked up quite an appetite. Let's eat."

I didn't wait for anyone to respond, I simply walked out the door. Hoping I would have calmed down by the time we reached the kitchen.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

RPOV

I went a little exploring after breakfast, part because I was curious and part because I was avoiding Dimitri.

I saw Sydney sitting at the desk in the library. It, like most things on this side of the palace had survived but I didn't think it used to have shelfs full of what I assumed were spell ingredients or a cat running around.

Sydney was engrossed in a book and making vigorous notes. I had never imagined there was human magic and witches but I suppose that Sydney would be a perfect student of witchcraft. She was meticulous and studious and would follow spells to the letter. I can only imagine the things she can do. I mean Dani brought us to the future. The possibilities were endless.

"What'ya reading?"

I asked as I was hovering over her.

She jumped up and almost hit the ceiling.

"God Rose, you scared me."

I chuckled. She was so engrossed in her book that she didn't even notice I had entered the room.

"I am reading a spell book. I found some reference to an ancient spell cast by a very powerful coven of witches. But I can't find a translation. It mentions the undead, so I thought it could have been a spell against Strigoi."

"I thought you knew like a million languages. Can't you read the original?"

"The original is in ancient Sumarian and even that seems to be a translation."

"Oh."

She closed the book and sighed deeply. She looked different then the girl I met in Russia. Not just because she was older, but because she looked older. I could see the years of hardship in her eyes, the same which I had seen in Adrian. Her hair was still blond but she wore it up in a stylized bun, which only accentuated her age. There were wrinkles around her eyes, but I was happy to notice there were also some wrinkles around her mouth which were laugh lines. She still wore business like clothing. But I also noticed some items which I wouldn't have pegged Sydney to ware. Some pendants and some bracelets. I wondered if they were decorative or if they harbored some witchy power.

I looked around the room and knew it was her sanctuary. Not just because it held book or ingredients for spells, but because everything was meticulously placed and labeled. Upon closer inspection I realized things were grouped together based on usage and within the group, the ingredients were alphabetized. I smiled. Even in a post-apocalyptic world, Sydney was trying to create order in chaos.

I sat down in the chair in front of her desk.

"So how did you end up married to a Vampire, married to Adrian."

She shrugged.

"As vampires go, he is really non-threatening."

Yeah he was.

"It is a long story, but we basically were put in a long term situation where we had to interact with each other. It took me a long time to see past him being Moroi and an even longer time to admit I had feelings for him. Of course he had been pushing me and flirting with me and almost pleading me to give him a change. That aura reading stuff really is a bitch. Can't hide anything from him."

I smiled.

"Must be weird for you. Here I am married to your current boyfriend."

I shrugged. Strangely it didn't bother me. I saw Sydney and Adrian together, they seemed… natural together.

"Must be weird for you, talking to me while I am still technically dating your husband."

I parried back to her and I saw her smile.

"Yeah, there is that."

I was fidgeting a bit with my hands, not really knowing how to approach Sydney. It was funny because when we met, she had been really nervous around me. Now the roles were reversed.

"Were they good kids?"

I asked a little out of the blue. But I wanted to get to know my children. And part of getting to know them is how they were raised.

Sydney looked at me gently, with some sadness for me and fondness for my children.

"They were. Sometimes a bit of a handful but which kids aren't."

"Did they miss us?"

Now her look was just sad.

"It was hard for them at first. They would ask about you two a lot. They didn't understand the concept of death yet, and constantly asked us when you would be back. We tried as best as we could but they missed you for a long time. But eventually they realized you weren't coming back. And I think it was even worse after that. Every day they remembered less and less of you. We told them stories of you and they remember those, but they don't remember what you looked like, what you sounded like. As they got older it was hard controlling their impulses. They were warriors, like their parents and it permeated into everything they did. Neither Adrian nor myself could really relate to that. Declan could to a certain extend. But it was hard for them because they didn't really fit it anywhere. In a sense they were alone. Declan was at least a product of two Dhampirs, but the only ones who could relate to their power were you and Dimitri. They didn't just miss their parents, they missed people like them. It helped when Janine and Eddie started to train them. Not only could they ask more specific things about you two, but they also got an outlet. We loved them like they were our own, but we just couldn't understand them completely."

I nodded. The cat jumped on the desk and rubbed his face against Sydney's shoulder. She seemed to swat it away. I didn't think she liked the animal very much.

I needed a distraction for the depressing thoughts that even if my children were loved and obviously raised well, they had been alone.

"So is the cat a must have for every witch?"

Sydney seemed to understand my need to change the subject and nodded.

"I don't like him very much, but he hangs around the library. Dani actually got him. My old magic teacher Jackie gave it to her when she started practicing. To her cats are helpful in spells and they are very loyal to her. They once let me to her when she was hurt. But I think this one here missed the mark on that and just wants to eat all day. Dani loves him though."

"Isn't the cat afraid of her? He doesn't seem to be liking me too much."

As if on command the cat hissed at me.

Sydney simply picked him up from the desk and placed him on the ground.

"Strangely no. He has that reaction to every other Dhampir but not Dani. We think it is because magic runs through her. It coats her blood and emits a sort of soft hum of life from her. It is why witched taste horrible to Strigoi."

"Huh. Who would have thought."

Silence again. This was a little weird. I wondered if we had become good friends in the future and she had a difficult time reconciling me with her image of the other Rose or if we always were this awkward.

"Thank you."

She looked a little confused at first but then seemed to understand that the cat was forgotten and I had moved back to the very depressing topic of my orphaned children.

"I didn't mind. Like I said we love them. When they were born you asked us to be their godparents so we knew there was a change we would have to take care of them. I had always hoped we didn't have to or that they would be a bit older, but we took them out of love."

I nodded.

"I just wish they had actual blood family too to rely on. Well other than my mother."

Sydney smiled a knowing smile at me. Was I missing something?

"Before the world went to hell Olena would visit them and we went to Baia a few times. They really enjoyed connecting with their Russian relatives. And of course Abe still spoiled them rotten. I think Sasha particularly identified with Abe. Not always a good thing though, but he connected more with Abe than anybody else, except Lera and Eric. But after the world ended it wasn't safe for Olena to come here anymore. They went there a few times after, but their attentions are needed on the front line. They have been fighting since they were twelve. They feel this responsibility to help. They didn't want to leave here because they know that if they do people will die. Olena is safe in Baia, relatively speaking. Abe actually made sure their house is warded. And Paul and Vicktoria are full-fledged guardians. Baia is one of the places that banded together and formed a stronghold of Moroi and Dhampirs. They talk to her on the phone a lot. She teaches them Russian. I think it makes them feel closer to Dimitri. His Russian heritage was important to him."

Yeah, after he turned he went to Russia because that is what his instinct told him to do.

"And of course, they are related to Adrian and Dani, so they were raised by family."

I looked confused.

"What do you mean? How is Adrian related to them?"

"Adrian and Dimitri are cousins, their fathers are brothers."

I slumped in my chair and I saw that Sydney thought my reaction was funny. I could only imagine what my face looked like. Shock. Pure shock. I was beginning to question my decisions regarding Adrian. They were nothing alike but I wondered if I was attracted to Adrian because he was the closest thing to Dimitri I could get. Even if I didn't know, maybe subconsciously I gravitated towards him because he shared genes with Dimitri. I dismissed the thought. They were completely different men. I wondered how Dimitri would react when he would find out. Even before he was turned Dimitri and Adrian didn't get along well. Probably because they were both chasing me. Well Adrian was chasing me, Dimitri was frustrated because he wanted to chase me but couldn't. How things have changed in a few months. Now he could chase me but didn't want to.

"They'll find out eventually. It did change a bit of the dynamic between them, but mostly they still try to avoid the other. Although they would confide in each other for the weirdest things."

"Like what?"

"Well it isn't widely known that the twins are actually Dimitri's children. It would make them a target, it is the same reason why we raised Declan and not his father. But you two needed an explanation for you getting pregnant. So Dimitri had asked Adrian if he wanted to pretend he was the sperm donor. It was actually brilliant because any resemblance they had to Dimitri could be explained through shared genes. Funny thing was that Dimitri had asked Adrian even before the topic of children for you two came up. I remember the conversation. It took hours."

Huh, I was surprised to see that they could interact well with each other. I mean for both it should be a little weird that I dated both of them, but I was glad. Because even if I was starting to accept Adrian and I as a couple didn't work I am glad he was still in my life.

"Would you be upset if we changed the past and you were no longer the twins parents?"

Sydney thought about it for a moment.

"Well. I speculate that we would be erased from existence and simply don't remember this timeline so I doubt I will have an opinion about this, but we were never their parents. We were their aunt and uncle who took care of them, who loved them and raised them. But you two were always their parents. We made sure they saw it that way too. And of course I would miss the times I spend with them, but I know that you two can take much better care of them. Give them things we couldn't. They deserve that, I would never take that away from them. It was the same with Eric and Rosie. We took them in because they needed someone to take care of them. Lissa was in no position to do so, so it was natural to take them too. It made them family. I would hand them over to you in a heartbeat but I would regret them not growing up as a family. But maybe they still would. I mean with you being Lissa's guardian and all. They would have grown up together regardless. But in the end I think them being raised by their father and mother would be the best thing for them."

"It is a little strange to think of myself as a mother. I don't think I have a maternal bone in my body. And I don't really have a good role model either. I know Dimitri would make a wonderful father; it is something he has always wanted. But I wonder if they wouldn't be better off without me. I mean I get that they were missing me and that they needed someone to help them with their warrior side. I think I would do okay in that, but the tucking them at night, comforting them when they get hurt, I just don't see myself doing that."

Sydney laughed.

"Actually you were a natural at that stuff. I know you are young now and not even close to ready but when you are you will make an amazing mother. And besides, the twins heal instantly, there wasn't much comforting them when they got hurt."

That little bit of information made my heart sore. I would be a good mother. Not just because they needed me specifically but because I would be a good mother. And she was right I was young now. I knew that I do not want to have kids right now, but I was slowly worming up to the idea. I knew two things from coming to the future. One I was able to keep them alive at least for the first three years, so I did something right, and two they needed me.

It was a large contrast to the relationship with my own mother. We were starting to build a relationship now, but as a child she was barely there. But as I grew older I realized that even if I wanted my mother, I didn't need my mother. I would be fine on my own. I had my own family and friends who 'raised' me. I suppose I became more of an orphan when the Dragomirs died then when my mother left me. And I suppose I have been taking care of Lissa all my life and taking care of her was almost the same as taking care of a baby so I suppose I could do this.

I mostly ignored Dimitri in the afternoon talking to my children and getting to know them. He seemed to give me that space. But as night fell (well actually dawn), we didn't have a choice but to interact. We shared a room!

Dimitri and I walked in at the same time, a fact that seemed to startle him.

"I'll give you some privacy to get settled in."

That was it. I was done with us avoiding each other. Instead of it getting better it seemed to be getting worse. He couldn't even look at me this morning.

"Why are so determined to avoid me? Am I really that repulsive to you, you can't even stand to be around me now?"

He looked over to me shocked at my outburst.

"No, but apparently I am still repulsive to you. I remind you of what I did to you in Russia, I understand, what I did was horrible, that is why I am giving you some space."

Really he was taking it out on me?

"What do you mean? I don't blame you for Russia, I never did, if anything I blame myself for being too weak to resist you and set you free."

He crossed his arms over his chest. He looked skeptical maybe even angry.

"Oh really, you can't lie to me Rose, I heard you last night. I heard you to beg me to stop. You are clearly affected by what I did to you in Russia and you have every right to be, but I am just trying to give you some space."

I wasn't angry anymore, I was confused. I didn't dream about Russia last night. I rarely dream about Russia and when I do I dream about the bridge. No, last night I dreamed about the caves again. The dream came back to be. I didn't beg Dimitri to stop. I begged him not to leave.

" _No Dimitri, please don't, don't… leave me."_

I must have mumbled in my sleep obviously not finishing my thoughts out loud. My confusion was replaced by frustration instead of anger. I knew now why he had been more withdrawn then usual today and it was because he misunderstood.

"You are such an idiot. I don't dream about Russia, I dream about the caves. I was dreaming about the caves last night. I wasn't begging you to stop, I was begging you not to leave me. But you DID. You died and left me!"

The tears were streaming down my face after my outburst. I didn't know where it had come from. But in many ways I never left that cave. After he died I didn't allow myself time to morn him. I went straight into a mission to set him free, and after I went on a mission to save him. I went through the motions and thought I was fine. I even started dating Adrian thinking I was over him and needed to move on. But I never left that cave. My heart was still stuck there. The moment when my whole world fell apart.

I could tell Dimitri was shocked. Not just at my outburst but at the content. His face softened and he took a step closer to me. He was brushing some tears from my face. The sensation was so gentle and loving it made my heart break all over again.

"I never meant to leave you."

His voice but a whisper.

I realized something when he said those words. I have been hurt and angry by his rejection in the church, but the truth is that the resentment started much earlier. I blamed him for leaving me. I knew it wasn't his fault for dying, but I blamed him anyway. I blamed him for leaving and I blamed him for staying away now that he was back.

"But you did, and in church you said you didn't want to be around me anymore. You may not have chosen to leave me in the caves, but you chose to do so in the church."

He looked down at the floor. But when he looked back up again his eyes didn't show shame or guilt as I would have expected they showed determination. I felt the intensity of his gaze straight through my body.

"As some of you have pointed out, I am an idiot. I didn't mean those words Roza. I was just so messed-up, I am still messed-up. My love for you was buried deep underneath all those layers of guilt and shame. But I know now it is still there. I just don't know how to separate it from the terrible things I did to you."

He put his forehead against mine as he was stroking the bottom of a lock of my hair.

"I want you, I do. I just don't understand how you could ever want me again in return."

I stepped in a little closer, now not only our foreheads were touching but also our bodies.

"I do still want you. I never stopped wanting and loving you. It is why it hurt so much when you died and when you rejected me. I love you Dimitri. That is all that is important, the rest we can figure out as we go. I know we both have a long way to go before we are back to who we were before the caves."

I slowly brushed my lips over his, conveying to him what I felt my words could not. I needed him to know I loved him with everything that I am. I needed to know I never blamed him for Russia. I needed him to know I forgive him.

He responded very hesitantly when he pressed his lips closer to mine. I had missed the feel of his soft lips against my own. I had missed the taste of something so uniquely Dimitri, I had missed the tingle that went up and down my spine as his mouth claimed mine. I had missed _him_.

We didn't take it too far. And all too soon we both pulled back. We couldn't take this any further. This was already betraying Adrian, and even if I knew Adrian and I would never work out, he deserved a better ending then me and Dimitri hooking up. Even if it was in the future.

"We should go to sleep."

Dimitri nodded. He was about to crawl into his own bed, but just because we shouldn't _sleep_ together didn't mean we couldn't sleep together.

"Stay with me."

So that night I slept in my lovers arms and for the first time since the caves I felt at peace, I felt whole and I had no more dreams of losing him to Nathan.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

RPOV

The next few days were nice. We would spend time with Lera and Sasha and trying hard to give each other space as well as taking comfort in the other one's presence. I would still see the guilt ridden Dimitri from time to time but I also saw a new Dimitri that had regained some of the warmth in his eyes.

It was strange that in this broken world we were healing.

There was one last thing I had to do before we went back to our own time.

I walked back down the stairs I was beginning to resent. Every time I came down these stairs disaster was waiting for me behind bars. Lissa had been incoherent the last time and I was determined to change that. I needed to know how she could do this. I needed to know how she got to this point.

I took a chair from the corner and sat down in front of her cell.

There was an empty tray in front of her and a half eaten blood bag. I wondered how Moroi were feeding now that the feeder system seemed broken. But obviously they were getting some blood from somewhere.

"Lissa? Lissa are you with me?"

No response. I tried probing the bond. It was such a natural thing to do, but I wasn't surprised it didn't work. Obviously the bond had been broken when I died. But I had hoped that maybe since I was technically bonded to Lissa in my own time it might have worked, but nothing.

She just kept banging her head softly against the side bars. I knew she deserved to be in jail and I doubt that the psychiatric wing of Tarasov was still operational, but she needed help. She had needed help years ago. Medication, therapy, anything.

She needed me.

I reached through the bars and touched a hand that was wrapped around her legs. The contact on her skin made her recoil and look up. I wonder how long it had been since anyone had touched her.

But although she was looking at me she didn't seem to see me. Or maybe she saw me and just didn't recognize me.

"Hey Liss. It's Rose, I am here."

It was like I was speaking another language. She cocked her head to the side but at least she wasn't banging her head against the bars anymore.

I had seen the keys on a little peck by the door. I knew I couldn't let her out. I doubt she even realized she was in a cell and could leave, but I could open the door and go inside.

I suppose with only so few people at court there wasn't many chances of a jailbreak. I imagined many people here viewed her as an instigator of the end of the world. I walked back to the peck and saw a small look of panic in Lissa's eyes when I left her side. Maybe she did recognize me. Or maybe she had been starved for attention and human contact for so long she was holding onto every little thing that they gave her.

I took the key, walked back and opened the door. I walked inside and sat down next to her. I closed the door again just to be safe and placed the key in my pocket. I pulled Lissa against me. I felt her cling to me. I felt her body trying to touch as much of me as she could, confirming my earlier thoughts about her being deprived of any contact.

"Oh Liss, how could you do it? How could you have gone this far, how could you have fallen so hard."

She sniffed at my words and I felt wetness flow down onto my shoulders and down my chest.

"Because you weren't there, because Christian wasn't there. I destroyed him. I destroyed an innocent boy."

She was sobbing.

"Declan is fine. He volunteers now for the vaccine. He is a good boy and fighting on the forefront. He is fine Liss. But you have to understand what you did was wrong."

She turned around on me and her tears were replaced my anger.

"I did it to save my people, one boy was worth the sacrifice to protect so many."

I knew by the look on her face she was doubting her words. It was like she was at war with herself. I think these two sides of her have been debating this in her head for a long time. She experimented on a boy, but with the intention of saving her people. I wondered if she knew she destroyed our entire civilization with her decision.

"It would have happened eventually, but by doing it like this it caused you your soul. It caused the lives that were saved by that vaccine to be tainted. Some causes don't justify the means. We would have found another way."

"But he died because we didn't have the vaccine. If Adrian had told me earlier. If we could have studied Declan, even from afar, we could have been years earlier with the vaccine and Christian wouldn't have died. He should have never kept something like this from me. From his queen. It is his own fault. This is your fault. You should have told me too."

She was going around in circles. I think she has had the same train of thought for the last fifteen years. She was now just able to voice them. I wondered if she knew I was actually here or if she thought she imagined a conversation partner. Or if she thought she had summoned me from her head because she blamed me. Lissa had never been very good at taking responsibility for her own actions. She would blame others, and play the victim. It was frustrating at the best of times, but even now, after she had destroyed the world, she still believed she was blameless. Well one of her personalities did anyway.

"Liss, no matter what we would have told you or not, you made the decision to sacrifice a child. What if Eric had been the key to saving the world or Rosie? Would you have sacrificed them?"

Anger and blame was replaced by tears again.

"Oh my babies. I abandoned them."

And back a moment later to anger.

"No, he took them from me. He took my child from my own arms."

Now the anger was directed at Adrian. I was seriously wondering if Lissa had developed split personalities here, because she was giving me whiplash from her constant turning.

"Eric and Rosie are fine. They are happy, They grew up with my kids and are doing well. They miss you though."

"I had to save the world Rose, I had to make it better. I had to make people see the Dragomir line was still going strong. I needed people to unite behind me and I needed a miracle to do it. The vaccine was the key. It should have united us against the Strigoi. It should have saved us all."

It should have. But slavery of Dhampirs was still too deeply rooted in our society for it to have been a cure for all. We needed people to believe Dhampirs had a right to live their own lives before the cure was released and we needed for Dhampirs to want to protect our society when the time came and the only reason they would is if they believed they were valued members. Adrian was right. I think in that we could play a role.

"It was too soon Liss, you forced something that we weren't ready for."

"I should have assassinated every Royal other than the Dragomirs when I issued the vaccine. It was their views of Dhampirs that made them leave once the vaccine was distributed. I should have made a public execution of everyone that had treated Dhampirs like they were property."

I know understood why Adrian had felt the need to lock her in a cell as opposed to keeping her confined to a room. She hadn't just gone insane. She had gone megalomania insane. I didn't think it would be prudent to point out she had treated me like her property on more than one occasion too. And that keeping only the Dragomir line alive was just perpetuating that some people were more important than others. In a way having more than one royal line meant at least they kept each other in check. Yes they felt superior to the rest of us, but at least there isn't a hierarchy within their ranks.

"Those ungrateful Dhampirs. I made their lives better. I made sure they were treated fairly and they abandoned us when we needed them. They betrayed me."

I didn't know if that was true. Our society fell because Dhampirs still didn't feel like equals, and others still believed they were second rate citizens at best. But they are still fighting against Strigoi. But instead of protecting those that paid them diddly squat they are now protecting themselves and their loved ones. They made a choice to come first for a change and you could hardly fault them for that.

"I should have trusted in my people and treated them better so they would stay. I should have listened to Adrian when he said the vaccine would be a disaster. I should have waited."

Her anger dissipated once more and she slumped back to the ground. I don't think she would ever reconcile her mind. What she had done was horrible but she did it to protect her people. But she took it too far. Especially as a leader you need to understand the line between doing what is right for your people and doing what is right.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Dani had recuperated and it was time to go home. We had a job to do. Saving the world, Yeah no big deal, no pressure or anything.

"Now the return spell is laced with spirit compulsion. Meaning you won't remember any of the specific events that took place here other than that you two went to the future and need to follow these instructions to save the world."

Adrian handed us a few envelops. Each had a specific date on them. One of them was a few days before we would die. The second one was the date I had seen on Christians grave and the third a few months later, probably the day Lissa look Declan. But I knew we were hoping that if we could stop us from dying we wouldn't need the two others envelops.

"Open them on the indicated dates and follow those instructions to the letter and hope for the best."

I looked a little panicked at Dimitri. If we wouldn't remember the last view days we wouldn't have cleared the air between us. Adrian seemed to understand my reaction.

"Don't worry little Dhampir. You may not remember the specific events but a buzz of it will still exist. You will feel different towards him then you did when we dragged you here."

I nodded.

We said our goodbyes. I hugged my children, the children who I wouldn't even remember in a few moments when we were send back to the past.

"Be good you two. Take care of each other."

I had a lump stuck in my throat and I saw they too were carrying their emotions on their sleeve. I would see them again someday but for them this was it. I wondered if changing the past would overwrite the future or create a different version of the future. I hoped it was the first because then they would have a better world too. And we would meet them there.

Dimitri hugged them too while I hugged Adrian thanking him for everything.

"Be good little Dhampir and go save the world."

I smiled, hoping their faith in us was founded.

Dani had recreated the marks except they seemed to be inverted. The dirt I had since learned was indeed a mixture of salt, earth and half a dozen other ingredients which I couldn't pronounce were laced with magic.

"When will we arrive?"

Dimitri asked.

"The moment you left. Nobody will have known you guys were gone. It does mean you will actually be a few days older then you were but I think the discrepancy is manageable."

Oh she sounded so much like her mother.

Dimitri and I stood in the middle of the geometric shape. I searched for his hand and slowly and gentle tugged my smaller hand inside of his bigger hand. He squeezed it gently.

I took one last look at my beautiful children and saw they didn't miss the gesture made by our hands. I hoped I would be around this time to see them grow up.

The wind started picking up and I felt that strange variation in gravity again. We were hurled around as I saw the world flicker between times. The dirty and worn tile being replaced by pristine clean ones. A moment later the world came crashing down and we were in our own time again.

I was lying on the ground Dimitri only a few inches away. I didn't understand how I got here, what happened? I looked down at the envelopes securely fastened in my hands. It had dates on them. Dates in the future. Right the future. We went to the future but I couldn't remember anything, except that we needed to follow these instructions.

I looked over at Dimitri and I saw he was looking concerned and confused. But where I had been angry and hurt and broken a moment ago. I didn't seem to have those feelings towards him anymore. Yeah I was still pissed but the underlying feeling that I couldn't bear to be around him was gone. He seemed as confused as I was.

"So did that just happen?"

"I don't remember the specifics, but yeah I think that just happened. How long do you think we were gone?"

I looked down at myself. I was still wearing the same clothes and they even had the ketchup stain from breakfast still at the sleeve. Yeah I put ketchup on my breakfast. But the clothes hadn't been washed.

"Not more than a few days, maybe less."

He nodded but was looking at me hesitantly.

"Rose, about the church."

I put my hand up to stop him from talking.

"Just don't, I don't have the need to strangle you right now and I would like to keep it that way. So just don't okay? The first date on the envelopes isn't in a few years, so we don't have to fix everything right now."

"You remember what happened?"

"No, but I remember it was bad."

He nodded to indicate he had the same feeling.

"This is weird."

There was a small smile on his face. It was a large contrast to the Dimitri I had seen only moments ago. A Dimitri that was plagued by guilt and shame and couldn't even look at me. He was still hunched over and I could tell he had a long way to go before he was anywhere near what he used to be, but the vibe was different. He didn't seem repulsed by my presence anymore. So maybe we had come to some sort of truce in the future.

"Stop right there."

Dimitri and I turned around and saw the legion of guardians that were guarding Dimitri had caught up.

"You can't just leave our field of vision. You are under surveillance for a reason."

The guardian clearly looked annoyed in Dimitri's direction. He cringed at the reprimanding tone of the guardian. I wasn't going to take that.

"It isn't his job to stay with you, it is your job to stay with him. He merely wanted to talk to me and the fact it took you so long to catch up to him, when he simply walked out the door, tells me _you_ should have paid more attention to him."

I had the envelopes in my hand and waved to Dimitri.

"I'll see you later and I'll see you all a few moments behind him as you try and catch up to a walking man."

I grinned as I walked away. The guardian in charge was practically fuming, but I think I saw a small smile pull at the sides of Dimitri's lips as he shook his head at my antics.

I went over to the gym. I needed to keep the envelopes safe and I didn't want them anywhere where people could easily find them. The gyms had lockers and I placed them inside. I locked it with a code and walked back out. There were enough lockers to go around so they hardly ever cleared out any that weren't actively in use. It would at least give me enough time to find a more secure and permanent hiding place.

After that I went back to my own guest apartment. I didn't want to see anybody right now. I had too much on my mind. I had been to the future. I had seen what the world had become. Even if I didn't remember specifics I knew that I wanted to desperately change the world. And I had this strange feeling I didn't want to make the world a better place for just myself.

It was evening before a very annoyed Adrian was at my door.

"Hey Adrian, what are you doing here?"

He was still a little mad I had missed a get together I was supposed to attend with him.

"Why is it so wrong for me to visit my girlfriend?"

I cringed. Yeah, for some reason I had forgotten about that. I don't know what happened in the future but I did know that Adrian and I weren't meant to be together. I think I have always known, but something happened there that told me I should end this. I loved Adrian, I did, but somehow Tatiana's words came back to me. I wasn't planning to stay with him forever. I enjoyed what we had, but I never envisioned a future with him. I didn't know if Dimitri and I had a future, but it didn't matter. I shouldn't string him along.

I sighed deeply as I sat down on the bed.

I saw Adrian's face fall as if he could hear my thoughts, well maybe not my thoughts but he could read my aura.

"Just spit it out little Dhampir, you are breaking up with me."

I just looked down at my hands. I didn't really know how to do it. I didn't want to lose him. I didn't want to lose my friend. But I had to do this.

"It's Dimitri isn't it? He came back and now you are kicking me to the curb. I knew it. I knew you would be crawling back to him once he was restored."

I got up angry.

"This isn't about Dimitri. Not really. I don't know if there is a future with him and me, but I know there isn't a future for us. I should have never agreed to date you in the first place. I doomed us from the start."

"Because you never let go of him. Because no matter what he does to you, you still come crawling back to him like a beat up puppy."

"No, because I never left those caves!"

I sat down defeated as I let the tears run freely down my cheek. Adrian seemed to have railed in a bit of his anger at my outburst.

"I dream about it almost every night. I don't blame Dimitri for Russia or what he is doing now, because I am not there yet. I am still in those caves watching him being dragged off and take my heart and soul with him. I never mourned him, Adrian. I went from seeing him die in those caves, to hunting him, to saving him. But I never mourned him. I liked the time we spent together, I think you gave me an important piece of myself back. For the first time in a long time I felt like I wasn't dying without him. I will always be grateful to you for that. But I need to process what happened in the raid. I need to process losing him. Even if he is back now. I don't know what the future holds for him and me, but right now that isn't important. I need to process this and in the mean time I should be with anybody, you or Dimitri."

He seemed to be slightly sympathetic to my struggles. I think he understood that we rushed into this. But he wasn't letting go so easily.

"You know if you break up with me now, that will be it for us. Because I know that if I give you that space, you will realize you still love him and he will eventually realize the same. You will forgive him and I am left in the dust. You walk away now, that is it for us."

He seemed to be pleading with me to stay with him, because I think he was right. If we broke-up now, we would never get back together. But I felt strangely at peace with that. I knew we should move on. I think that even if Dimitri wasn't in the picture Adrian and I would have crashed and burned.

"I know, but I think I need to do this anyway."

He nodded. He got up from the bed. I knew deep down he understood. I knew deep down he agreed. I know there was someone out there for him, someone that would complete him. I wasn't that person. But I also know he was angry and hurt right now. I wondered if we would ever be okay again.

"Well don't let me get in your way."

And with that he walked out of my room. I didn't know how to go from here, luckily that choice was made for me when the next day I was arrested for Tatiana's murder.

 **So back in their own time. I had to lace the return spell with compulsion because it would definitely change too much. My goal was to just chance their deaths. I could have taken them a few days before they died, but I think this added a bit more drama and a different dynamic. But I couldn't help but change Adrian and Rose. I always hated how Richelle Mead made Rose cheat on Adrian. I think it took away from Rose's integrity. It is also why I didn't want them together in the last chapter. Since she was still technically dating past Adrian, to who she returned in this chapter.**

 **I think breaking them up before the murder wouldn't chance much. I still think Adrian would have helped her escape and he would have been invested to find the real killer for Tatiana. He would have still been seen with Rose that night even if it was short and Daniella might have still paid the janitor off. Probably he went drinking somewhere while his mother thought he was with Rose. He might not have asked his mother to provide the lawyer, but Abe would have taken over anyway. Not a fulproof plan but I think I prefer this over Rose cheating on Adrian ;).**


	10. Chapter 10

**Time jump.**

 **I wrote the last chapter so we could follow the events of the books until the end.**

 **For those that have read Crimson power, you will recognize the parallel chapter but with a completely different outcome.**

 **To those that haven't read Crimson power. Here is some background information you will need: Rose and Dimitri were tattooed against their will with Strigoi blood laced through the tattoo. It gave them Strigoi-like powers and they need to feed from Strigoi to replenish their powers. Rose was pregnant with the twins when they were tattooed so they have it too, except they were born with it. Although not necessary for this chapter. That will become a major point later on.**

Chapter 10:

DPOV.

The first date was up. The envelopes had been sitting in a safe in our apartment for almost nine years. And today we would finally be able to open the first one.

Rose was practically jumping up and down. It was a testimony to her control that they had remained closed for nine years. I would have expected her to open it up already. My wife was not a patient woman but I suppose when the fate of the world depended on it she could control herself. But only if the fate of the world depended on it.

I opened the safe and took out the first letter, closing the safe up again to preserve the other two.

I started to open the envelope but not as fast as Rose would have liked. Maybe I did do it very slowly just to mess with her. She ripped the envelope from my hands and opened it herself. I chuckled.

"It says that in a few days we will be going on a solo mission. We shouldn't go alone, we should take an army. Army is even highlighted."

"Huh. Would that be the mission Hans has us pegged for? There were only a few Strigoi sighted."

It was the only mission we had lined up. I suppose we would have to start getting things in motion for an army a few days early. That should be fun explaining this to Hans.

"Daddy, Daddy, Sasha is chasing me again. I told him to stop but he wooooon't."

My three year old daughter was standing at the end of the bed whining that her brother was teasing her again. I swear they were both cute when they were asleep, but both a bit of a handful when awake. Although whenever I would feel a little frustrated I would just look at them closely and melt again. Both my children were stunning. They took after their mother but I would like to think I added some genetic information for cuteness as well. Lera's eyes had her mother's darker shade of brown but Sasha took after me a bit and had a slightly lighter shade of chocolate brown more matching my own eyes. They both had Roza's hair, for which I was grateful. Her hair was gorgeous. Lera had said she wanted to grow her hair out like her mother. Currently it was reaching just below her shoulders. Sasha's was short, but not millimeter short. You could actually comb his hair. I wondered if Sasha would grow his hair out like me. All the ladies would be after him. But right now the most adorable things about my children was the scowl and pout on Lera's face as she berated her brother and Sasha's smirk. They were like a mini us.

"Honey, now it isn't nice to tattle either. Just ignore him and he will go away."

"No he won't." My wife said

"No I won't" my son said.

Helpful, very helpful. But luckily I knew how to handle my children and my wife.

"Come on let's get some breakfast."

I heard three yeah's and all was forgotten.

That afternoon we walked into Hans's office. We put the children at a desk with coloring books. There were enough people on paperwork duty who could watch them. Honestly they had everyone wrapped around their little fingers. Whenever we would walk in with them I saw many people getting up asking if they needed to watch them. Especially female guardians were quick to jump up. Sometimes they would even take them to the gym to show them how to fight. My children were three and knew the difference between a roundhouse kick and straight kick. Their execution could use some work, and their ability to refrain from using it against other people other than in a training situations certainly needed attention. But they were three.

We left the twins alone with their crayons and papers with at least three guardians hovering over them as we stepped into Hans's office.

"We need an army."

He looked at Rose very funny.

"Why… do you need an army?"

He raised an eyebrow at her and I think Hans was apprehensive about handing an army over to Rose. He might think she would use it to prank court. But my wife settled down a bit over the past few years. I think she didn't want to set a bad example for her children. Although I must emphasize the 'bit' part.

"It's complicated but we need an army to go on the mission next week."

"You two don't think you can handle five Strigoi?"

"We have reason to believe there are more out there and will need every available soldier to accompany us."

Hans looked skeptical but was looking through his files.

"I have three slayer units at court at the moment. We can have an additional twenty guardians to follow you, would that be enough?"

"If it wasn't, would there be more people available?"

"No."

"Then it should be enough."

I didn't know exactly how many people constituted an army or what we would be facing. But I needed as much as we could get. And I think Hans had provided us with as many people as he could. So it should be enough. It just had to be. It would have been helpful if the letter had said more. More about the specific situation we found ourselves in and why we needed an army in the first place.

We made some arrangements to discuss the situation and battle strategy early next week and went back to picking up the kids.

When I packed Lera's crayons in her bag she had a knowing look in her eyes.

"Is Hans going to help you and Mommy?"

I nodded.

"Good. You'll need it."

And that was the only conformation I needed this was serious. Lera, like my grandmother knew things. Things nobody else knew. I was getting a little apprehensive. How big was this event that would change the world forever?

A few days later we were preparing for the mission. Hans was gathering the army, doing the paperwork and working out the logistics. We were at home with the kids spending some quality time with them. I thought the duties were well distributed.

Lera was coloring and Sasha was making a puzzle. I sat down next to my daughter.

"What are you making, sweetheart?"

She was hovering over her drawing, meticulously coloring the contents of a circle.

"I am making a drawing for you and Mommy."

I looked at the drawing. It was hard deciphering the drawing talents of a three year old, but I saw stick figures which I suppose where Rose and I and I saw beds and what appeared to be a Band-Aid.

"Well you did a good job. But it is bedtime now."

She nodded and put the crayons down. I told Sasha to clean up the puzzle pieces and get ready for bed.

I loved taking them to bed. Rose and I would do it together when we could. Each of us having a kid to get ready. They would take a bath. Afterwards we put them into their PJ's and I would read them a story. Rose had joked I should read them one of my western novels but we were sticking to kids stories for now. Not all of my western novels were appropriate for children. But when I saw a children's book about a cowboy I couldn't resist to buy it. That was the book I was reading now.

Both children were engrossed in the story I was reading to them. I would make grand gestures and funny noises and do different voices for different characters. My children would hang on every word. But soon I read the last sentence that seemed to present in every book.

"The end."

I heard protests from my children but I could already see them rubbing their eyes.

"Now remember, Auntie Lissa will be here if anything is wrong. Me and Mommy have to go defeat some bad guys."

Lera nodded and Sasha was making grand movements with his arms no doubt trying to slay the bad monsters.

"Sleep tight my babies."

"We aren't babies anymore Daddy."

"You'll always be my babies." I kissed both of them goodnight and Rose did the same.

I turned off the lights in their room and hoped I would be the one to turn on the lights in the morning, if all went well.

"I love it when you read to them. You are so animated telling the story, even I get pulled into the world of the wild west."

I laughed as I pulled her closer.

"I'll make a cowgirl out of you yet."

She laughed as she sauntered away.

"oh but I think I have been a few times."

I knew what she was referring to. She had a sexy cowgirl outfit in the closet she sometimes whipped out. With an actual whip. She even got me an outfit to match, well assless chaps and a hat, but as long as I was inside of her by the end of the night, and nobody saw me in it, I would wear anything.

But no cowgirl tonight. That didn´t mean that her outfit of choice for tonight didn´t do anything to me. Quite the opposite. Her tight stretch pants and tight long sleeve shirt made of specifically durable material clung to her like a second skin. She had a thigh strap for her stake and another one at her hip. She looked hot and lethal, my favorite combination. But like always I knew she didn't dress up like that to please me, it was to protect herself from some damage as we were going in to battle.

I dressed similarly in the same durable material specifically designed for slayer units. The long-sleeved top was pulled up to the neck to prevent biting. The material was flexible as to absorb some of the strength from punches and kicks from Strigoi. Although you would still be very sore in the morning, it did prevent a bruise from forming into a break. It also meant most slayers would die from a broken neck as this seemed to be the most effective way of circumventing our new outfit. It was better that way. Quick and painless.

I strapped my own stakes at my side and upper leg and I thought I saw a similar gleam of lust in Rose's eyes as had been in mine a few moments before. We did look like we belonged together. We matched in every single way. Even to our expression which reflected determination. Determination to come back to our children in the morning.

"I love you Comrade."

She kissed me gently on the lips.

"I love you too."

And with that we picked up our bags, took the babyphone over to Lissa and made our way towards the gym where we would be gathering our 'army'.

Everyone had gathered in the gym. I recognized most members of the slayer unit we used to belong to before we had the twins. Team Alpha. We had seen most of them on occasion in the last few years but it had been a while since we had fought together. I had been a while since Rose and I had done anything other than a solo mission.

I was glad to see Emily had joined as well. She was a particularly powerful fire user and was always good to have around in a Strigoi fight.

"So Dimitri, any chance you will let us in in what is going on. Hans has been quiet saying he didn't know anything."

Emily asked us. I could already see our old team forming a ring around us trying to ask the same thing.

I called everyone to attention and like good little soldiers they gathered around immediately.

"I know many of you have questions about this mission. But unfortunately I don't have any answers. All I know is that the mission is more than the few Strigoi that were sighted. I have it on good authority that this will be a major battle. But if we are enough of or we are complete over kill I do not know. All I know is that in order to keep this world save, we need to win this battle."

Everyone was still confused but trusted us more than anything. I hoped we weren't leading them to their doom.

"So is this a Lera thing?"

I saw Christian approach us. I didn't know he would be fighting. I didn't know if I was relieved or scared. Christian was a good asset to have. He had authority over the Moroi fighters and had the most control over his abilities. But I didn't know if any of us would make it out alive.

"She did confirm to me that we needed help on this mission, but we knew that before she told us."

"So who told you?"

I looked over to Rose but she just shrugged.

"When we survive this I will tell you."

Christian looked intrigued and would probably survive just to hear the story, but I had to survive too to be able to tell him.

Rose and I discussed strategy with the team leaders. We mapped out the area and came up with battle strategies and exit strategies. This has been the largest raid ever and with so many people, coordination was key. We had to be able to function as an army too. Everyone had to know their task and their place. It was particularly difficult to include the Moroi in this, but luckily Christian would handle those. We decided on small cells within the larger army. Four guardians to each Moroi. Not only would this be more effective since it would be more compared to what we did in the slayer units. It would also protect Moroi more.

With a heavy heart we finalized the plans and poured into the cars on our way to the where the sightings had been.

Rose and I would go in first to scout out the place and to draw the attention of whoever was there. We had an uncanny ability to sense Strigoi ever since they had become our prey.

The adrenaline I associated with the hunt and finding our next meal was fueling my movements now and heightening my senses. Rose and I both turned on our Strigoi- like attributes and I could hear the breathing of our army only a few hundred meters away. I focused on other sounds of life, or well in this case death. Strigoi had heartbeats and they did breathe but there was an underlying feel of death to them. The sounds were somehow unnatural and their scent was mixed with decay. I could always tell if someone was old or young based on that particular smell. The older a Strigoi was, the more he smelled like decay. It was a subtle smell but with our increased sense of smell we were able to pick it up.

When Rose and I moved to the center of the field before the house that the Strigoi were supposedly hiding in, I nearly keeled over from the invasion of my nose. I had never smelled anything like it. I looked over at Rose but I saw she wasn't focused on the smell, she was focused on a Strigoi a few meters before her.

When I turned around I understood her hesitation. The smell came from a single person. A male Strigoi that oozed power and dominance. He must be ancient. We had fought old Strigoi before. Last year we had taken down a Strigoi had been over two thousand years old. But he looked like a baby compared to this one. His skin was deadly pale. Paler than any other Strigoi I had seen. I wondered if Strigoi also felt the decay in their bodies. Would they need more blood to sustain them as they got older? Does a Strigoi also have a lifespan? Even if it takes thousands of years to reach their end?

"So these are the famous Dimitri Belikov and Rose Hathaway. Husband and wife. The nightmare of every Strigoi. If we had children we would tell them stories of you if they didn't eat their vegetables. The sheer number of us that have fallen at your feet is astonishing. And before the night is over many more will have followed our brethren. But tonight we drag you back to hell with us."

As he said those words more Strigoi came out of their hiding spots and I appreciated that indeed we would need an army to defeat them, since the Strigoi had come with an army of their own. I also understood now what event had eventually caused the future to go to hell. We would have come here alone. We would have died here. I wondered if it was our death or a consequence of losing this battle that had its effect on the world. I didn't want to believe we played such an important role in the world that it would crumble without us.

"Been there done that."

Always the rebel, my wife. She was putting as much bravery in her words as she could. She tried very hard to not cower before him. But I could tell she understood how powerful he was. And even if nobody but me could read my wife like she was an open book the Strigoi did seem to realize that even if we were standing our ground we were shaking in our boots.

They were closing in on us. There must be at least fifty, sixty Strigoi here. But somehow that didn't scare me as much as this one Strigoi before me did. Even if we were outnumbered we brought highly trained warriors that were used to being outnumbered. They could deal with the rest of the Strigoi, Rose and I would deal with him.

We were a prestigious prey for Strigoi. Killing us would bring our killer eternal glory, so it was testimony to his dominance and power that all other Strigoi wouldn't even touch us without him having to say anything. They knew we were his.

"Ah yes your talents for escaping death are legendary. I suppose it is what makes you so deadly. But everything must die eventually, death and taxes right. Well everyone except me of course."

The Strigoi erupted in cheers around. The sheer volume of their chants for our death as much an annoyance as their message was. When he raised his hands to quiet them down their screams for blood immediately died down.

He stepped closer to us and I instinctively stepped in front of Rose. I knew we were well matched and I would need every ounce of her strength and mine to defeat this Strigoi. As a warrior I understood that but as a husband I wanted to protect my wife. I wanted to protect the mother of my children. But if we had any hope of seeing those children again. I would have to trust in her ability to fight like she trusted in me.

"Any last words?"

"Bite me."

She spat at him and I nearly chuckled. Wrong thing to say to a Strigoi, but so 'Rose' it made my heart sore. She whispered 'I love you' to me and I returned the favor before we engaged him.

The rest of the army was doing surveillance and would be here soon to take care of the other Strigoi. Our army was monitoring us and the lines in our earpieces were open. And as we charged the old Strigoi our army came down to the center of the field and started to engage the Strigoi army.

I needed to focus on the fight at hand and trust the rest of them to take care of themselves.

Rose and I were used to fighting opponents together but usually it was us two against a few of them. We still needed to track the other and switch whenever necessary, but fighting the same opponent meant we would have to adapt our fighting style. My large body would get in the way of Rose making a move, but we quickly adjusted where Rose would circumvent my body by going either low, trying to take out his leg, or high, where she was focused on doing damage to his face. I would focus on the midsection and try to get an opening to stake him.

It was something we taught new recruits. You didn't have to be stronger or faster than a Strigoi, you didn't even have to be more skilled all you had to do is find the opening to stake them. If fighting with Strigoi was like a knock-out match we would have been extinct several centuries ago. It was our training that allowed us to kill them, not our strength and speed. Of course for Rose and me it was different as we were stronger than most Strigoi now. But the basic principal still applied. And our years of training would come in handy now as this Strigoi was definitely more powerful than us. I just hope we weren't rusty from years of Strigoi strength.

But as it turns out us getting in the way of each other didn't seem to be a problem. Not because we were in sync, even though we were. But because one of us would pretty much be flying through the air landing on our asses all the time. He swapped us away as if we were flies.

There was a small pause in the fight when Rose and I both ended up a few meters away and had a small moment to regroup. I looked around and saw our people were holding their own. The ground was covered in blood and bodies but I was relieved to see the Strigoi far outnumbered the guardians. But still lives would be lost tonight. Well early morning. The sun would be coming up soon. We were nearing the end of the night and if we could keep him here we might not have to kill him ourselves. The sun might do it for us.

"Well well, you are incredible. How you have mastered that stolen power is quit commendable. In my very long life I haven't seen anything like it. But all good things must come to an end. Personally I can't wait to taste you."

The last part was directed at Rose and I growled. Why did every Strigoi need to make a move on my wife? Yeah I know she is hot, she is also going to kill you. Although with this one that was debatable.

His attention was focused on us so I don't think he noticed Emily coming up behind him. Maybe we didn't need a stake, or the sun, we had Emily. She could fry him. I saw she was doing just that. A moment later the Strigoi was covered in flames and several Strigoi which were in a fight in its vicinity were backing away from the heat. It actually provided a nice window for some guardians to stake them.

But where the other Strigoi were affected by even the sight of the flames, the Strigoi in front of us swatted Emily away and unconscious a few meters away. He was still burning as he did it. I could see even if the fire was affecting him, the burns were healing faster than they could harm him. Eventually he simply patted his body to stop the flames. A second later he was in pristine condition again, no evidence of his earlier plight. He was so old fire didn't even affect him anymore.

Rose and I just stared at him. Our own powers were fading and I saw our wounds were healing much more slowly then they usually did. I would have to feed soon. But I knew I wouldn't get a change before we killed this guy.

Our moment of reprieve was over and he charged at us with full force. And the dance started again. We were beginning to see through his patterns and were able to at least not be thrown to the wind like leaves.

Even if he had been Dhampir before this, I saw most of his fighting skills were obtained after he had been turned. Even though thousands of years of experience would have compensated for it. Usually Strigoi didn't learn real technique in their fighting styles because they were too arrogant to think anything could harm them. It meant I had a small sliver of hope that we could survive this, but we needed to find an opening fast.

There. I saw it. I didn't hesitate, while he was focused on Rose coming from above he left his chest wide open. I jammed my stake in his heart and expected to see him crumble and the light fade from his eyes, but he mostly just looked annoyed if not in a bit of pain.

I saw where I went wrong. Well not wrong. I did everything right. The stake wasn't plunged in far enough. His body was hardened by his shear age to a point that a stake didn't make it past his sternum. I had used all my strength to stake him and it hadn't been enough. We were going to die because I hadn't been strong enough.

My wife however, had another idea. She had been going high as I had staked him and was now falling to the ground, hands first, almost like a cat. I got out of the way to give her space and in her fall she crouched down on the ground. Her hands on the soil as she used the momentum from the fall to kick out her legs. She drove the stake in further and I heard the anguished cry and a moment later the light in his eyes went out.

He fell to the ground and I did the same. Rose was already on the ground and wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. I used the last bit of strength I had to move us further from the body before I plummeted down next to her.

The sounds of battle had stopped. It was eerily quiet just a few moments before dawn. All Strigoi had seized their battle and were looking over at their fallen leader. I had never seen Strigoi take a liking to each other but they revered this Strigoi with almost worshipping eyes. To them he was a God and they just saw their God fall. I had expected them to run. Now that their leader was dead I had expected them to run and hide, seeing as the sun was only a few minutes away, but instead of doing that they gathered around him and sat down next to him. My earlier thoughts about him being a God in their eyes strengthened because they were on their knees looking like they were praying.

We just stared in silence. The gravity of this event seemed to be permeating into all of us and we could only be observers. The sun came up and the Strigoi didn't move. The sun burned them and their fallen brethren and they didn't move. They didn't scream as the fire engulfed them. A moment later the Strigoi were gone and all that remained was ash.

I welcomed the first rays of sunshine ushering a new day for all of us. A day which I hoped would lead to a better future.

Christian was hovering over me as I bathed in the sun's light, my only movement was grabbing Rose's hand and squeezing it. I was glad he made it. He looked a little worse for wear but he would live, probably would have gotten a wicked scar from the battle if Lissa wouldn't heal him later.

"So how are you doing?"

He asked.

"Can't move." I had used up every bit of strength I had. My wounds were no longer healing and every Strigoi in sight had been turned to dust. I would have to recuperate the normal way. It had been a while.

"Can't move because you broke your spine and are paralyzed or because you are too tired to even think."

"Latter."

He laughed.

"What about you Rosie, still alive?"

All I heard was a grunt from Rose. But we were alive. And that was all that mattered. We would probably be in the hospital for a while before we were fine.

I was reminded of Lera's drawing. I chuckled, she had seen we would survive but would be pretty beat up. She had made us a get well card in advance.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

Adrian's POV

The last week has been hectic. First I get a call from Lissa saying Rose and Dimitri are hurt and I should come to court. I didn't understand how they could be hurt. They would heal instantly, but as Christian told me the story of how they got hurt I understood.

So we went to court. Lissa and Christian were busy with the aftermath and Rose and Dimitri were still in the hospital and we needed to take care of Lera and Sasha. Abe and Janine had come to court as well, but as much as Lera and Sasha loved their grandparents, they had asked for me and Sydney. Well actually they had asked for Declan and Dani.

Once we had settled in and played a prank or two on Dimitri who still wasn't able to move, Sydney had gotten a call from her sister.

Sydney didn't have any contact with the alchemist anymore and mostly they ignored her. But in an event as big as this, they would let her know. Zoe, her sister, was still a part of the alchemist and was climbing the ranks fast. I was glad to see Zoe seemed to lack the distain most alchemist had towards vampires even if she did get her sister imprisoned once when she found out I was dating her. But we were passed that. When Dani was born she even visited. It had taken several years but the bond between the sisters had somewhat healed.

Zoe had informed her that the Strigoi Rose and Dimitri had taken down was Joshua. The oldest Strigoi known to the alchemists. But Joshua had been the one to spread those rumors in the first place, and we all know that Strigoi like to brag. But we did know he was old. If he was the oldest we didn't know, but it was a great victory none the less.

He had been a priest in his own religion and many Strigoi followed him. With him gone it would mean a large pillar of stability in the Strigoi world would be gone and with any luck they would all crumble under the weight.

The news that Rose and Dimitri had taken down a Strigoi so ancient that he could out live fire, had traveled fast. Lissa had confided in me she was offered very large sums of money if she would transfer Rose and Dimitri from her royal guard to the royal trying to bribe her. She wouldn't say who but she did say it had been a Tarus. We had laughed about that. Because Rose and Dimitri would never leave Lissa and Christian, they would never leave their place in the royal guards. It was the most prestigious spot in our society and they had achieved it at a very early age.

The best part of the story was that when I visited Rose and Dimitri they said they had received the same offer. Lots and Lots of money if they would switch allocations. But we had just laughed about it. Rose had even asked Lissa if she wanted to outbid the Tarus. Lissa had rolled her eyes but promised to get her a really nice birthday present.

But the truth was that Rose and Dimitri had stopped being Lissa's and Christian's guardians a while ago. They weren't just royal guards, they would protect anyone that needed their protection and they would fight anyone that threatened our world. It wasn't limited to Lissa or Christian or anyone else.

And today they would be honored for their commitment.

They could walk again. Some guardians that hadn't been a part of the battle had finally managed to get hold of a Strigoi and took some blood to Dimitri and Rose. The fact that there were so little Strigoi left in the area was promising that maybe we did win a vital battle. But it would make it harder on Dimitri and as a consequence Rose. Dimitri would still need Strigoi blood, the effects of which permeating into Rose. But maybe they wouldn't spend so much power as the Strigoi threat seemed non-existent at the moment. Lera and Sasha still needed blood but the amount of blood they needed was almost negligible compared to Dimitri. They had both been given a sip of the blood they brought for Dimitri and it would sustain them for a few weeks before they needed to feed again.

The difference in Dimitri and Rose was night and day after they took the blood. Although they were healing without it, it probably would have taken them months to recover fully. With the blood it was over in minutes. I had seen the effects of instant healing using spirit. Who knew that Strigoi blood could do the same.

Afterwards they took the twins home and spend an entire day alone with their own family, celebrating the fact they had made it out alive.

We were on our way towards their apartment now to pick up Lera and Sasha. Because today their parents would be busy and so would Lissa and Christian. So we would pick them up and take care of them for the day.

"Where are my favorite niece and nephew."

I shouted as I came into their apartment. Okay so technically second cousins, but don't dwell on the details. They were family and they called me uncle.

I heard pitter patter and around the corner two toddlers came running up to me. They were already strong for their age, to strong and they tackled me to the floor. I landed with an umph but smiled anyway.

"Uncle Addie!"

I saw Rose was behind them chastising them for their behavior. It was funny seeing Rose so maternal. Don't get me wrong she was a great mother, but now with one hand on her hip and the other waving her fingers at her children and an apron on from what I assumed was making breakfast, she looked the part.

"Since when do you make breakfast?"

I asked as the mountain of children was slowly climbing off of me long enough for me to sit up.

She looked at me like I was crazy.

"I am wearing my good dress for the ceremony, I just don't want to get it dirty. And you know with those two around it will."

Both of her adorable children grinned widely at her. Yeah they did enjoy making things dirty.

"Well come one then you two. Let Mom and Dad get ready for the ceremony and we will head over to Sydney, Declan and Dani."

They immediately got off of me and picked their pre-packed bags up. Whenever I would mention Dani, Declan or Eric they would always be excited.

Rose nodded her thank you to me as I walked out of the door with the twins. In the hallway I saw Lissa in her queenly attire poking her head around the door. She was shoving Eric out the door.

"Mind taking one more?"

I didn't even have time to respond before the twins had already agreed and were walking down the palace hall with their best friend. I shrugged towards Lissa telling her it was alright. What is one more.

That afternoon we were amongst the many there to witness a historic event. Luckily for us, Abe was there and had of course managed to get the best seats. When we moved some of the royals out of the way to take our seats there were lots of hey's. But one look from Abe and they were silent. Besides they couldn't deny their kids a chance to see their parents.

Dimitri and Rose had asked Lissa, well pleaded Lissa, to not make a big deal out of this. But Lissa wouldn't hear of it. They accomplished something major which could turn the tables in the war we were fighting. They deserved to be honored.

Unfortunately for them, Lissa had made the arrangements. So they were being called up on an actual stage accompanied with cheers of their name. They weren't the only ones being honored today, but certainly the most important.

Rose was taking it rather well, but Dimitri was embarrassed to be in front of so many people.

"We are here today to honor our heroes and to commemorate those we have lost in the victory of a great battle in our never ending war against the Strigoi."

Like a true queen she let her words reach her people as they shouted their approval.

"A week ago Guardian Belikov and Hathaway have killed the oldest Strigoi we know of and have rendered a devastating blow to the Strigoi world."

Again cheers erupted from the crowd.

"Today they will receive a specialized zvezda for their efforts so that all may know what they have done for our world."

Now this is the part that Rose and Dimitri knew. The tattoo chair was already in the middle of the stage. Dimitri went first taking off his shirt to allow the tattoo artist to add the zvezda on his back. I heard a collective intake of breaths. Not in response to his muscled back which would draw enough attention on a bad day, but in response to the shear amount of molnija and zvezda's on his back. The promise mark was hovering a few inches under his hairline with a set of molnija around it. But all the way down his spine were battle stars, two by two. They needed to retire soon. There wasn't much room anymore. The tattoo artist went to work and added a gold zvezda more resembling a sun then a star, just above his promise mark. This way people would be able to see it all the time.

Rose was tattooed next and the same gasps where uttered when she lifted her shirt. But I do think that this time there were a gasps that weren't because of the amount of tattoos but the curves of her body.

"For the first time we have awarded a солнце, the sun mark. To commemorate our ride out of the darkness and into the light."

God Lissa could make good speeches.

Lissa named all the people who have fought in the battle and thanked them personally. When Christian came up she glowed with pride and a little anger. I imagined she was happy he was fighting for a better world but hated the fact he could get hurt. I imagined they had had a lengthy discussion about him going on the mission or not.

After all the surviving members were named she went on to those who did not. Luckily the list was short.

Lissa had made an ornament in the royal park which was open to all with a plaque calling all warriors by name, the date of the battle and with Rose and Dimitri's names bold and big.

I had heard Lissa had wanted to make a lifelike statue of them but Rose had vetoed that immediately.

After the ceremony was over I took the twins to the ornament with the plaque. It was a bronze tree, which actually worked well in the park.

Lera was on my hip and Sasha was holding my leg.

"See, this is to make sure people will remember what your Mommy and Daddy did for the world."

They looked at it in wonder. Even if they couldn't read yet.

Below Rose's and Dimitri's name was an inscription I thought it very fitting and was a little surprised Lissa had the insight to put it there. But I agreed a hundred percent. Because they weren't just Lissa's and Christian's guardians. The inscription said:

"Protectors of us all."

 **A short chapter with a parallel in crimson power. It also signals the end of part one of this story. The part where I take almost 35 k words to fix their gruesome murder ;).**

 **The next part will be more next generation, although Romitri will be featured as well, I will focus little more on the children. It is almost finished, but I don't know if I will make the update on Wednesday. But I promise I will update ones a day afterwards, seeing as I don't have to buy time to write the next part.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A big thank you to stardreamer2608 for proof-reading the next part. It is going to be a little out of the box but I hope you all like it. Let me know what you think.**

Chapter 12.

RPOV

His hands were roaming my body. Our clothes had been shed a few minutes ago and all that was left between his soul and mine was our bodies. His heartbeat and mine beating to the same rhythm of our affections.

"Roza."

The pleading and desperation was evident in his voice as he whispered my name. We had been on a mission for a few days now and hadn't had much time to be together. But we were back in our own apartment now. I wanted to devour him, the need for him permeating the deepest corners of my soul. After years of marriage, he knew every sensitive spot on my body and he took full advantage of that as he was bringing me to new heights. He was moving his way from the swell of my breasts to my stomach to the place I needed him the most. I bucked my hips up towards his hand, trying to find that friction only he could provide. His lips were occupied with my neck as he nipped and sucked just below my ear. The sound of his breathing, slightly accelerated by our current activities, was inches away from my ear and I could tell exactly the kind of effect my body had on him.

I could feel him hard against my inner thigh as he was slightly hovering over me. I was stroking him up and down between us as he prepared me for him with his skilled fingers. I couldn't take much more, I needed him to fill me to the brink. I needed him inside of me. He positioned his cock at my entrance and was about to drive it home when his phone went off.

"Ignore it."

I begged him. He hesitated for a moment, but seeing as his painful erection demanded release as did my dripping core, he opted to take my advice.

He once again grabbed hold of his cock and the tip was inside when my phone went off.

We both let out a frustrated growl, but I decided to pick up anyway. Whoever it was wasn't going to give up. Might as well answer, get it over with and get back to our original activity.

"What?"

I answered the phone not being polite about it in the least.

"Rose. It's Stan Alto. You and Dimitri are needed in my office."

I sighed deeply.

"Again?"

I could hear him being as exasperated as me on the other end of the phone.

"Again."

"On our way."

I hung up the phone and saw Dimitri's stormy look as he had guessed the meaning behind the call.

"I am going to kill him."

I almost laughed. It wasn't often a son could blue ball his father.

"Yeah well, you should have thought of that before you had kids with me."

He chuckled.

"Come on, let's get dressed."

I said to Dimitri. I was about to pull the covers off when Dimitri pulled me back onto the bed.

"Stan can wait two minutes longer."

He didn't even give me time to respond other than a loud moan as he drove his cock home. He set a vigorous pace as we really didn't have a lot of time. His sack hitting my butt and his thighs clashing with mine. The sounds alone were enough to arouse me to a point of ecstasy. I suppose we were lucky we hadn't had much time to be intimate the last few days because now it took only moments to reach euphoria together. As he slammed into me one more time I clamped down on him and let myself ride the waves of pleasure. I swear I didn't have one, but two or three organisms as he rode out his own release. He fell down next to me, sweaty and breathing heavily.

"God, Stan is going to know exactly what we have been doing. I doubt that by the time we arrive our 'sex-face' will have dissipated."

Dimitri simply shrugged as he was getting dressed as if saying it couldn't be helped.

Stan Alto, my former favorite teacher in the world was now headmaster of the academy here in court. I don't think either of us was happy with that. Lissa had opened the school once Eric had been old enough to attend. She didn't want him to far away from her and his security would be a lot easier here at court. Besides there were actually a lot of children here at court so it made sense to also open an academy here. Our own children were attending. Currently in their final year, Lera and Sasha were top of their class and already slated to be Eric's guardians once they graduated. Unfortunately Sasha had inherited my knack for getting into trouble.

We walked into Stan's office. He had aged dramatically over the last few years. I would like to think it was because Stan had bad genes, but I knew having to deal with my kids wasn't helping. Well kid. One was very studious and stayed out of trouble most of the time. The other however, seemed a magnet for trouble. He was the reason we were here. Again.

Sasha was sitting in a chair opposite Stan with his arms crossed over his chest and feet stretched out before him. His entire demeanor screamed he didn't give a shit. Although he made it a point of not looking at us when we came in. Lera was sitting next to him. She was rubbing the bridge of her nose sighing deeply. When she saw us she looked at us and just sighed more deeply.

"It wasn't my fault."

He humphed when none of us were speaking.

"And what exactly wasn't your fault?"

I asked a little hesitantly. He looked at me for only a moment before looking back down at his shoes. Stan sighed and handed me a piece of paper.

I just looked at it shocked. It was a picture of a broken statue and what appeared to be a bill for its repairs. I just couldn't breathe. That was a lot of money.

The statue was a rebuild of the statue of Alexandra that my dad blew up with heaps of C4 when they needed to get me out of jail. But nobody billed me afterwards. But it was kind of funny how the statue that had survived for centuries was now destroyed twice in a couple of decades because of my genes. I was beginning to wonder if the world would survive more Hathaways.

Stan took back the papers.

"The bill has been forwarded to the queen."

Well that was a relief. But why? Not that I am not grateful, we did make a good amount of money being royal guardians, but still that was a lot of money. Then it occurred to me. Should have occurred to me from the start.

"Eric was in on this too, wasn't he?"

I heard Lera sigh again. She was trying her hardest to keep those two out of trouble. Although she could weigh in the fun when she wanted to, Lera seemed to grasp the difference between having fun and 'that might not have been such a smart idea' that the boys were lacking. Usually she could convince them out of their most moronic ideas at least. But either this was already a dialed down version of that idea or Lera was busy with something else. I hoped it was the latter.

But I wondered why Eric wasn't here with us and why Lissa wasn't called in as well. We had been here together on more than one occasion.

"Lord Dragomir is being held in a separate room and being questioned. Lord Ozera is with him."

I saw Lera cringe when they called Eric Lord Dragomir, but I for one was relieved to know at least Stan believes Eric shouldn't get away with things just because he is royal. I would question Christian later to see what happened on his end.

"Okay so start from the beginning. How did poor Alexandra end up in rumbles, again."

The last part I said under my breath, but Dimitri caught it and I think I saw a smile pulling at his lips. Well I suppose in this case nobody could blame me, they could blame Abe. Even though I had destroyed a fair amount of property, destruction of this particular statue had skipped a generation.

"So we were skipping Moroi studies."

We all rolled our eyes at that.

"And we were just hanging out and doing some target practice. Eric would throw some fire balls at me and I would have to dodge them and then someone came by and Eric got distracted, he misfired and I had to evade, but I had to use super speed to do it and I kind of crashed into the statue. It wasn't my fault."

He humphed back down into the chair not looking at anybody again. I was stunned that my son's body was the sole cause of this much destruction. Well at least it wasn't a prank or intentional.

"That is why practice like that is prohibited at the academy outside of its designated areas. What if Eric accidentally hit anyone else? It may not have been intentional, but it certainly was reckless."

Sasha cringed under the harsh but fair words of his father.

"So what happens now, Stan?"

"Detention for the both of them. Nothing new."

We all nodded except Sasha, who humphed again.

As we got up to leave the depressing office, Stan grabbed my shoulder.

"I know he and Eric have special considerations. Nobody wants to see a Dragomir or a Belikov in trouble. But if this happens again, I will find a way to expel them."

He wasn't being mean; in fact I think he was being fair. Expulsions were a serious thing nowadays and Stan would have a hard time getting it approved, but I knew that if he wanted it, they would be. I knew that if I had done the things they had done while in school, I would have been expelled as well. And I took the Dragomir princess into the human world.

The world was a different place. The guardian profession had transformed over the years. About ten years ago, Declan had volunteered to serve as a source of the vaccine. It had resulted in a bit of a struggle when we learned that inoculated Dhampirs could pro-create together. We had been able to prevent the guardian system from falling, but some changes had to be made. First of all it was considered much more a job now a days than a calling or a necessity. And we were paid accordingly. The hours were better, so you could combine it with a family life and many more Moroi and Dhampir chose to cohabitate to provide safety and means for the other instead of one being seen as a servant to the other. Under this new rule Dhampirs had thrived. Their numbers were rising. However, more and more Dhampirs were educating themselves to do other things than fighting and as a result guardian numbers had been dropping. Expelling Sasha, someone who would certainly not only be a guardian, but a slayer at that, was playing with fire.

I knew he was bored. Particularly Sasha had a problem with sitting around and simply listen in class. The combat classes weren't any better. He had surpassed his teachers a while ago and simply went through the motions. The only time when Sasha and Lera could still be beaten and learn something is when they would spar with us. We had actually been taking them on slayer missions with us since they were thirteen. I think they were ready before, but I wasn't comfortable taking eight year olds into the field. But nowadays they needed it. Their training and increasing body size meant they would have to feed regularly and they needed an outlet. I understood. Sometimes it felt like we were caged animals and just wanted to run free.

Lera had some sort of control on her instincts, and was adjusting better. I also think Lera was able to put some effort into her studies and be challenged in that respect. She was in several advanced classes. Sasha was barely passing his. I was the same way back then.

I looked over at Dimitri and he knew we would have to plan a slayer mission for tonight to take the edge off.

Strigoi sightings had become rare these days. Even if guardian numbers were dropping, we seemed to be winning. Partly because now that Dhampirs were considered an equal part of society, Moroi were willing to also lend a hand in protecting their shared world. The number of Moroi fighting in missions and helping against Strigoi had increased. Even several Royals other than Christian had learned how to defend themselves. Nowadays we were more focused on defense outside slayer mission and simply keeping each other safe. Because of the vaccine the Strigoi numbers had gone down and most Strigoi consisted of ex-humans which were a lot easier to take down then ex-Dhampirs. They could no longer feed on Moroi and Dhampir so they mostly hunted humans now. The only time when they would still attack us was out of spite. Or arrogance. Court had been breached a few years ago by an army of Strigoi. We had fought back and won, securing court once again, but it was a reminder that the war had changed. We were no longer their prey, we were their enemy.

But it meant we would have to often search far and wide to even find a Strigoi to replenish our strength. However, because of the changing circumstances much more Strigoi were banding together. Not good overall, but it did mean that when we would find a nest it would be enough to sustain all four of us. But I was wondering what would happen in the future. We were fighting a war that if we won, would probably also mean the end of me and my family.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

Sasha's POV

Detention. If sitting in normal class was already so boring I would go stir crazy, detention was even worse. The only distractions I had were Eric, my best friend, sitting only a few meters away, being equally bored and a hot Moroi girl who was in trouble as well, who was sitting in front of me. I could admire her slim figure, her long blond hair and her nice tapered hips ending in a slightly round ass. I followed her curves up and down but I lingered on her neck.

I looked down at my textbook. Trying hard to erase the image of my fangs and other parts of my body inside of her.

I was no stranger to the attentions of girls. The girls sitting in front of me had even made a few moves my way. But I was reminded of how different we were. Although biting during sex was also done in the Moroi world, especially with Dhampir partners, it was considered dirty. And I am sure that although Moroi might like to dish it out. I doubt they would be able to take it.

So I stayed away from girls. But I was seventeen and I had needs. Luckily my best friend, although also getting massive attentions from girls, and my beloved sister were also still virgins. At least they felt my pain and frustrations. Something my cousin Declan was oblivious too. He was considered a hero because his blood had saved the world. That and the fact he was tall, dark and handsome had made him a regular chick magnet. I had on more than one occasion caught him with a girl and he had boasted about countless more. My mother jokes that even if he didn't get the Ivashkov genes, he certainly had gotten the attitude. Apparently, uncle Adrian used to be a real whore.

After another excruciating thirty minutes, the bell rang signaling our time in the torture chamber was up. Well at least for today, Tomorrow we would be back here again, and the day after that, and the day after that. Well, you get the idea. I think Headmaster Alto's exact words were 'until you graduate or until the world ends.'

Is it wrong of me to want the world to end?

The academy was at court only a few blocks away from the palace where we lived. It was in large contrast to the academies around the world. There, only students and teachers were permanent occupants of the academies and parents could visit. This meant they usually didn't see their parents for moths at a time. We simply walked back from school and came home. Normally I would be grateful for this, but tonight I think I would have wanted to attend one of the other academies.

Eric was walking beside me. Both of us were late due to detention and would be late in the foreseeable future.

"My old man was kind of okay with me practicing. I knew he was trying hard to keep his face in check and nod and say, 'oh yeah terrible what he did'. But I could tell he was secretly proud of me. Actually, after the meeting was over, he only berated me about getting distracted and losing control, not the other bits. My mother on the other hand… not looking forward to that."

Yeah. His mother, the queen of the entire Moroi world was not happy with her son's rebellious behavior. She often commented on it and asked why he couldn't be like his sister. Well, we had that in common. Although my parents never said that. They acknowledged our differences, but never compared us. With twins that was a big deal. But yeah the contrast between a number of times I get in trouble or Lera does is humongous.

Although more often than not Lissa would actually be mad at Christian, for teaching him magic and taking after him. And seeing as Christian's first instincts had been to be proud of Eric instead of being mad sort of meant she had a right to be mad at him.

We walked into the dining room. Although we didn't always eat together with Eric's family, more often than not we did.

Eric sat down next to Lera giving her a dazzling smile. She just rolled her eyes. There were two minutes of uncomfortable silence, people weighing if they should bring up the incident of today or not but my mother decided a distracting topic was more appropriate. I loved my mother.

After dinner, I went to my room. I didn't want to be around anyone. I was pissed. Pissed I got detention for something that wasn't my fault. Pissed I wasn't like anyone else. Pissed because I was frustrated and couldn't get the image of the Moroi girl in front of me out of my head.

I grabbed the dagger I had in my room. I know I told myself I wouldn't do it anymore. But screw it. Impulse control has never been my strong suit. I made a small gash on my hand. The pain was permeating me, distracting me from the world around me. In that one single moment, I felt normal. But the moment of pain was gone and I felt the strange sensation of my skin knitting back together. Oh yeah, I was normal. Just like everybody else.

I put the dagger down and simply lay down on my bed staring at the ceiling. I wasn't going to win today. Might as well give up on this 'no- good- very- bad- day' and hope tomorrow would be different.

I doubted it.

Lera's POV

After dinner, I went back to my room. I had some studying to do. I had some advanced calculus work I needed to do. I loved doing hard academic stuff. I loved all new material and had a thirst for knowledge. I needed to strengthen my mind. My mother had commented it was starting to border on obsessive and I knew she had been right. Because I didn't do it so I could advance in academics. I didn't do it because I wanted to be a scholar. I did it so other people saw a student and not the beast I saw every time I looked in the mirror.

Moroi and mankind had evolved beyond basic instinct by developing their higher cognitive functions. In a way that was what I was doing. Strengthening my mind meant I could control the beast. I needed to believe that no matter how much I gave in to instinct, my mind was stronger than my body.

"You know it is your fault right."

I looked up from my textbook startled by his voice. I dropped my pencil as I was trying to get my breathing under control. I hated when he did that. I couldn't mentally prepare myself for him and my body would unconsciously respond to him.

Eric stood in the doorway all six foot six of lean Moroi muscle and a smirk on his face. He was too sure of himself. His body exuded confidence and so much more. The much more is what was increasing my heart rate and breathing at the moment.

To cover up my obvious physical reaction to him I scowled and rolled my eyes.

"How is you two destroying an ancient statue and getting detention my fault."

He shrugged.

"You should have stopped us, but you were too busy in advanced chemistry or physics or whatever…"

"I was in advanced ancient studies."

"See, ancient stuff doesn't need your attention, we do. And the statue was a remake barely 25 years old. They can make it again."

I sighed deeply as I pinched the bridge of my nose. I swear I was getting welts on my nose from doing that so often.

He walked closer to me and suddenly I wasn't annoyed anymore. I was afraid. He hovered over me looking at the textbook. His larger body hanging over me like a cocoon.

"And now you are studying for advanced gibberish."

I smiled despite myself. I didn´t want him near me. I couldn´t have him near me.

I got up from my chair and out of the confines made by his body. My reaction seemed to amuse him.

"It's math. Algebra."

He shrugged again and took a step closer.

"Seems like gibberish to me."

He took another step.

I took one step back but hit the edge of my bed.

He closed the distance between us. He stroked the side of my face as he stared down at me. My body heated at his touch but I told myself Eric was doing it using fire. He was really skilled at that.

"I really am nothing without you, you know."

I knew he was referring to the fact I should have stopped him and Sasha from doing something stupid, but it felt like he was referring to so much more.

He lowered his head and touched his lips to mine.

I hated him in that moment. I hated he assumed he could come in here and kiss me without getting decked. I hated how he was affecting me. But I hated myself more… for falling for him.

I prided myself on control. I knew it was my only separation from the beast inside. But Eric crushed that barrier, making me feel things I swore I wouldn't feel, couldn't feel. All my self-control gone, with one touch of his lips.

This wasn't the first time he did this. And every time I told myself I wouldn't go there again. Not only because I was holding on to the last piece of control but also because I knew it couldn't go anywhere. No matter how much either of us might want to.

But why did he have to feel so good against me?

I grabbed my last few strands of self-control and held on for dear life. I pushed him away.

"No, we can't do this."

"I don't understand why you keep fighting this Lera? I know you want me."

He sounded way to cocky saying that. I would deny him just on principal now.

"No I don't, besides it would never work."

"You are the only one who seems to be convinced of that."

I sighed deeply.

"You can honestly say that starting a relationship with your guardian and a Dhampir at that would be becoming of a Dragomir prince?"

He opened his mouth to speak, had his hands raised when he noticed a change in my expression.

"Shit."

And I stormed out leaving a confused and frustrated Eric behind.

I could deal with him later. This confusing and utterly inappropriate sexual tension between us would still be there. My brother, on the other hand, was going to be dead soon. He promised he wouldn't do it anymore. But I could feel the blade make a mark in his hand as if it was my own. We always had a keen sense of each other, somehow we could feel each other when we were close. The bond was mostly physical and I knew my parents had a similar bond created when our mother nearly died in childbirth. So maybe the Strigoi blood bound us in the womb. But I could feel most of his physical reactions and sometimes get a read on an emotion like when his heart rate would pick up because he was nervous or upset.

But right now I didn't need to know why he cut himself again. He must have known I would find out. So instead of checking on my nearly immortal brother, I went to tattle to my mother. He always seemed to respond better to Mom. He and Dad were close but he was still closer to Mom. Probably because they were so alike. It was the same with me and Dad. Whenever he saw I was pushing away my feelings to much he would confront me about it and tell me it was okay to feel and let lose some. Keeping the beast caged all the time made it too wild. Better to domesticate it then imprison it.

"Mom?"

"What is it, honey?"

"He is at it again."

She sighed deeply before putting down the magazine she was reading and walking the distance to his room.

RPOV

I knocked on the door. I didn't expect an answer so I entered after I finished the third knock.

He was laying on his bed his hand covering his face. He was playing some depressive rock music and making a point not looking at me.

Now I'll admit Sasha took after me. He could be impulsive and reckless and always followed his gut instincts. But where he got this gloomy moody side from I didn't know.

I walked over to his desk and saw the dagger on it. There was still a little blood on it. The amount told me he had simply pricked himself. Sometimes it was much worse.

"You know she can feel you right."

His response was limited to a sigh.

I sat down on his bed next to him. He at least had the decency to sit up a bit. He picked up his knee and draped his hand over it. He still had to grow into his body but I could see him resembling his father's physique more every day.

"Did you do it because you broke the statue?"

He sighed again.

"No, I did it because the statue broke instead of me. I did it because in detention I was seconds away from letting the animal out…Doing this makes me feel… human. The wound reminds me I still bleed like the rest of them, that I still feel pain even if it is over in a second."

I placed my hand on his shoulder. I didn't know how much of this was teenage angst, but he was taking this very hard. Lera had also shown some obsessive behavior when it came to her unique abilities. Dimitri and I had almost two decades to get used to our powers and we were still struggling, how could I expect my children to simply take this in stride?

"You know your powers don't determine who you are."

"Do I? You and Dad weren't born with them. It means you remember who you were before and see the changes these powers made. I don't have that option. I don't know who I am. I was born this way I don't know what part is me and what part is the animal."

I stared at the ceiling before giving him the answer. I needed him to understand this. We would never be free of these powers, so the sooner he accepted this as a part of him and stopped fighting this, the better.

"That is simple. It's all of you. I know about power and darkness that isn't your own and this isn't it. Yes it amplifies some instincts, brings them to the surface, but I have never done anything against my will when wielding this borrowed power."

He rolled his eyes as me. In a very teenage way, he responded.

"Yeah, okay you got moody when bonded to Lissa, big deal, this isn't really the same though, when I get out of control people could die."

I looked down at my hands. There were some things we hadn't told our children. Some things because they hadn't come up and some things because I didn't want them to know, but maybe it was time I shared this with Sasha. He needed to understand he had control over this.

"I didn't just get moody, Sasha, I killed someone."

I let that settle in a little. His eyes went wide.

"When I was bonded to Lissa. Her darkness seeped into me and it didn't just make me moody or angry, it made me violent. I lost control twice, one time I beat someone into a bloody pulp and if your father hadn't gotten me off of him I would have killed him. I was so afraid afterward. I felt like the darkness was swallowing me whole leaving only a rabid animal behind. A little later I did kill someone. I pushed him too hard against a brick wall and he broke his neck. It was over in a second. I know what it is like to be out of control. And this isn't it. It is more a lack of impulse control. Or even a complete disregard of normal standard and just follow your base instincts. But those instincts are your own. For me, it feels like wanting the last piece of pizza in the fridge at 8 am. I know I shouldn't, nobody else would do it, but my body says, screw it, I want pizza and I take it. I know you feel less evolved than everyone else but it is all you."

"Then I am just so screwed up."

I chuckled. He was a teenager, in my opinion, they were all screwed up. I certainly was.

"When I look at everybody else I just feel so disconnected. I am not like them, Mom. I am immortal to them. They either fear me or look at me like I am God."

"I know baby, it is hard having power nobody else has and nobody understands. I am very grateful you have your sister and that we are still here to take care of you both. But I get it."

"I know you do, but it is different for you. You have Dad, your significant other gets you completely. He is like you. Even Lera has Eric who in his own way is powerful. I don't have anybody."

I had noticed something going on between Lera and Eric, but I sensed resistance in Lera towards Eric. She had a strong sense of duty and I knew it was getting in the way of her heart now. But I suppose she would figure that out on her own. Eric was just the kind of person she needed to break down her walls. And Eric was a bit spoiled. If he wanted something he would get it.

I suppose I understood Sasha's point too. It was different for Dimitri and I. We both went to the same thing. We could unleash ourselves around each other without the other getting hurt. I suppose that was a consideration for Sasha and Lera both. Whoever they would end up with, they would always have to hold back a little. Sasha felt alone and lonely because he didn't think he would ever find someone that he could be himself with.

"You're seventeen Sasha. You don't have to figure out everything right now. You have your entire life to do it. Just because I met your father at seventeen doesn't mean you have to find someone now."

He nodded. I hoped I was getting through. I think it was actually better if he waited until he was a bit older. We had discovered that even if Dimitri and I did age, we did it a lot more slowly. Dimitri was already lagging behind in aging because of his Strigoi days. His four months had given him at least a year or two of stopped and slowed aging. Sydney had seen the same in a restored Moroi named Lee. He had been a Strigoi for a few years and it took a few years before he was aging normally again. Now that we were infused with Strigoi blood we noticed that there did seem to be a difference between us and other people in their forties. We looked like we were maybe in our thirties. But maybe we just had good genes. But we had to take into consideration that the same would happen to Sasha and Lera. If they had a significant other they might outlive them by a long shot. So it would be better if Sasha and Lera would find them a little later in life. I suppose for Lera and Eric it should be alright. Moroi generally lived a bit longer then Dhampirs who had a more human lifespan but the discrepancy was minor. Moroi usually could reach well over a hundred while Dhampirs and human had an average lifespan of about seventy to eighty. Well, actually it was hard judging the average lifespan of a Dhampir because most deaths weren't of old age. It brought the average age of death of a Dhampir way down.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

Sasha POV

I felt a little better after the chat with Mom last night. And I suppose as I was strapping my bag over my shoulders and joining my friends in going to school was a normal teenage thing to do. I mean what is more normal than boring classes and detention. Morning classes were combat classes and in the afternoon we had academic classes.

I didn't know what was more boring. At least in the academic classes, they covered stuff we didn't know, even if it wasn't worth knowing. In the combat classes, the teachers had given me and my sister free reign a while ago. This morning at least Eric was there.

Eric and Christian had made a case of getting Eric in the combat classes instead of their magic classes. Eric, like us knew much more than the teachers and was bored out of his mind in those. The standard defense classes, which were now a part of the curriculum, weren't nearly as challenging for Eric as they should be. And Dani as a Dhampir was following magic classes instead of combat classes so Eric had made the point asking why the reverse couldn't be true as well.

Dani was a witch like her mother. She was sweet and kind and studious and the thought of her punching anybody was hilarious. She was a warrior in her own right but with a brain, not brawn. Eric was a little bit the opposite. He was using much more brawn, even if he sometimes could use a bit more brain.

A lot of students didn't want to train with him though. Not because he was Moroi. Not because he could be an ass sometimes, but because he wasn't just Royal, he was a Dragomir prince and the son of the queen. They were afraid Mommy would blow a gasket if they hurt him. And pissing off the queen wasn't something they wanted to risk. So like always we were stuck with teaching Eric the move the teacher wanted us to learn and in sparring matches, it was always the three of us.

When we walked in from the dressing rooms I say my sister was going out of her way to stay as far away from Eric as possible. I rolled my eyes. They have been dancing around each other for months. I didn't know why she was resisting so hard. Eric seemed amused by her reaction.

"So why are you avoiding him again."

I whispered to my sister.

"Because if I get to close to him, I am afraid I'll break his nose today so I am doing this for his own protection."  
I chuckled. My sister was much more in control of her emotions than I was. But when she did blow, she went nuclear. I didn't want to be near her when she did and neither did Eric, especially seeing as he was her target at the moment.

The demonstration part of the class over, we moved to the mat trying the technique out. We had to take turns. It was a take-down technique where you spin first, taking the arm of your opponent with you in the momentum and then reversing the inertia on him, taking your opponent off balance, and bringing their arm to the ground letting their body follow suit. You either use the technique to incapacitate by locking the arm or, staking with your free hand, ending your opponent.

First, it was Eric and me. We took turns doing the technique. Despite Eric's cocky nature and obvious spoiled Royal attitude, he was a good fighter, who put in the time and energy to not only learn how to defend himself but also to fight on the front lines. He wanted to join a slayer unit the moment he graduated. I doubt his mother would allow him, but as his future guardians, Lera and I were thrilled. We would go with him. We had wanted to be in a slayer unit since we were four. Of course, that had more to do with seeing our parents getting praise over their work in the slayer units and their solo missions than anything else.

Now it was Lera's turn to practice the technique on Eric. She wasn't taking it easy on him and Eric was hitting the mat hard every time. Lera would let go of his restrained hand at the last moment, so the momentum didn't bring him down but send him flying. In a Strigoi fight, it was useless because they would heal from the damage immediately and escape your grip to come back to you, but it was productive in working through her issues I suppose.

After a few tries, Eric called it quits and they switched. Lera was mostly ignoring him and was actually putting in enough resistance without making too it difficult for Eric and he was able to take her down a few times. On the last try, he held on a little long and lost his balance as well. He ended on top of her, his hands catching him on the side of Lera's body. I felt my sister's heart rate going up and it had nothing to do with fear. I rolled my eyes as I saw their position. Eric seemed to be realizing it too. His muscular body pressed against hers and his leg between her thighs. They seemed locked in place for a few moments, then Eric presses his leg a little further into her core and her face distorts into anger. If I didn't feel her bodily reaction I would have never caught the moment of bliss before the anger settled on her face.

I don't think Eric noticed either since her fist was pretty damn fast with punching him in the face.

She got up and went to the girl's locker room. The class was almost over anyway. I walked with her to our next class. Stupid Moroi studies.

"So, want to tell me what is going on between you and Eric?"

"Nothing is going on between me and Eric."

"Convincing, you should keep that exact tone when Dad asks, he might actually believe you. But you can't lie to me and you know it."

She sighed deeply.

"He kissed me again, yesterday." I was a little surprised I hadn't noticed anything yesterday. But I was wallowing in my own pain a little yesterday.

"I don't understand why you keep denying you want him too. I can tell Lera. Why do you resist so much, seeing as you clearly want this too."

She stopped walking for a moment and looked at the dark sky above us. Even without transforming we could see more than others. The countless stars in the sky reminded her of Christmas lights. Lera's favorite time of the year was Christmas. We would celebrate Christmas here at court and head over to Baia after new year's to celebrate Christmas there. She always said we were lucky because we got two Christmases whereas there were people in the world that didn't celebrate any.

"Because one of us has to keep a level head and it certainly won't be Eric."

"Why do you need to keep a level head? What is wrong with a bit of romance and passion in your life? I would kill for someone to look at me like Eric is looking at you."

She looked at me a bit apologetic. She knew how much I was struggling with fitting in and how much it was bothering me I didn't think I would ever find someone who could love me.

"Because it isn't just about giving in now and having a good time. Would I still be able to guard him even if I am seeing him? What if it doesn't work out, we will still be his guardians. Could we still be around each other? Could I still be around him without strangling him? He does tend to be a dick you know. And what if we did make it together. What in a few years when he is expected to continue the Dragomir line and all I can give him is Dhampir children. Or freaks like us? No, it is better to stop it before it starts."

She had been overthinking this way too much. But that was Lera. She overthought everything. She was a born general because she planned for every contingency. Very helpful in battle but the 'what ifs' were hurting her now. I was personally more of the jump in now, figure out how to swim later but I understood her reservations. But I also knew she wasn't covering at least one way this could turn out.

"Do you think you could watch him be happy with someone else?"

She stopped walking again. But by the look of shock and horror on her face, I knew she hadn't considered that particular scenario. I saw she was imagining it now and wasn't liking what she saw.

"He isn't your normal Royal Moroi, he doesn't care you are Dhampir, somewhat, you know that."

"He doesn't care now, but eventually he and Rosie will need to continue the Dragomir line and truth is he can't do that with me. It isn't fair to expect Rosie to pick up all the responsibility for that one."

"Jill married Eddie. She didn't procreate for the Dragomir line."

"That isn't fair. Jill didn't know she was a Dragomir until her teens. She already gave so much up to have Lissa be queen it would be unfair to ask her to give up her boyfriend as well. Besides, many people don't consider her a true Dragomir anyway, because her mother wasn't royal and she was born out of wedlock."

"So the reason you don't want to date Eric as a teenager, while you are still a teenager, is because in what ten- twenty years you might have kids that don't carry the right name?"

"Sasha, I haven't felt like a teenager in a long time."

With that, she led it rest as we walked into the cafeteria. I knew my sister took things more serious than me. But I was glad to know she was struggling too. She didn't feel like any of these people either. She hides it so well, sometimes I don't see how much it is bothering her as well.

We sat down at the table with our friends. Eric was spotting a bit of a black eye but his baby sister was quick to heal him. Rosie had been trying out different powers. She had been showing signs of being a spirit user since she was ten and under the guidance of her mother, uncle Adrian, and Sonia she was trying to figure out what particular set of spirit powers she had. So far she had a knack for healing just like her mother, but she also seemed to be able to dream walk, while Lissa had been abysmal at that. Aura's were still hard for her, but she was picking up a stray thought here and there. And like her mother, she was diagnosed with depression. But since we had found a way to counteract the spirit darkness she had it under control with regular check-ins with the psychiatrist.

"You still doing okay Rosie. No need to feed yet?"

Dani asked. She was sitting across from us looking over at Rosie and to Eric. She was concerned for Rosie but was also very curious how he got the black eye in the first place. Seeing as Lera was making a point not looking at Eric, she was quick to deduce Lera was the culprit.

Dani was a scholar and a witch and was mostly serious and studious. She had that in common with Lera. But Dani was also in the loop of all the gossip and was a real gossipmonger. She definitely got that from Uncle Adrian.

"No, I am good. I'll let you know."

It had been Adrian and Sydney who had figured out the 'cure' for spirit darkness. I didn't want to know how, but they discovered that feeding from a witch would restore the power they lost. Aunt Sydney said it was probably because witches blood was coated in magic and life. They drew strength from the world around them and stored it as energy in their blood. It was why Strigoi couldn't feed off of them and why giving back some of that 'life' was beneficial to spirit users. The coven, Sydney belonged to each donated their blood every once in a while to spirit users in the form of an actual blood bag but Dani always kept an eye on Rosie and let her feed on her when she needed. Fresh blood was the best and Rosie spend a lot more power than most spirit users because she still had to control her gifts and was practicing a lot. Also, nobody wanted to see a fourteen-year-old go insane.

I knew Dani would let her feed on her wrist instead of her neck and Rosie would heal the wounds after because there was still a stigma on Moroi-Dhampir feedings. But I was imagining Rosie at her neck drinking her fill with Dani, letting the delicious blood drip down her neck. I shook my head. These images of people feeding were getting in my head too frequently.

"So all excited about the dance?"

Rosie asked trying to take the topic off of herself and she ever presents the chance of insanity.  
Everyone merely gave a few groans. Actually, I was a little excited. It was such a normal teenage high school thing to do and I was looking forward to it.

"Well, you guys are no fun. All my friends are super excited, now that we are no longer on the elementary campus we can actually attend our first dance." Rosie was bouncing up and down.

"I am with you, Rosie. Don't let these boring people get you down. I am always up for a party." I saw Lera roll her eyes.

"I got asked by Brian, he is a sophomore."

Rosie said all dreamy. I had to remind myself she was fourteen almost fifteen and just entered high school. This was a big deal to her. And being asked by a boy who was a grade higher was apparently an accomplishment. I didn't want to break it to her that her title gave her as much popularity as her personality did.

"You are fourteen Rosie, you are not going to the dance with a boy if I even allow you to go at all."

Eric may be a dick sometimes, but he was a very protective older brother.

"Mom already said I could go."

Rosie like a true little sister stuck her tongue out at him.

"Well I am telling Dad, I am sure he won't be happy about this."

"Dad is chaperoning and so is Dimitri, It is just a dance. It isn't like I am going to lose my virginity to him or anything."

Eric visibly shuddered at the thought of his little sister being sexually active. In part because she was his little sister and because he himself was a virgin. I imagined the thought of being beaten by your little sister in that respect would be embarrassing. I certainly would be. Hell, I am if Rosie would find someone before I did.

"I am so glad you and I are twins. None of this protective crap between us."

Lera whispered to me.

"And I am the younger sibling so you should be protective of me."  
She smiled.

"So Eric, you have a date yet?"

Dani asked trying to steer the conversation away from the sexual appetite of a fourteen-year-old.

Eric glanced over to Lera for a moment before confirming he didn't.

"Not that people haven't asked. Lots of girls have asked me, but I think I am going solo."

"Same here."

Lera answered. Making a pointed look towards Eric that if he even tried asking her, he would already know the answer.

I have had a few cards in my locker from girls, but I wasn't interested. They would run away if the saw the real me. Besides most girls here were spoiled bimbos. There were a few I wouldn't mind hanging out with but none that really caught my fancy.

"What about you Dani. Anyone special asks you?"

She started to blush. Dani never blushed.

"Andy asked me."

"Ooh." We all said in unison. She rolled her eyes.

"So does your Dad know?" She blushed again.  
"I have been trying to tell him, but there never seemed to be a right time. Besides wouldn't he already know? He can read my aura you know."

"How did your Mom react to finding out Andy is taking you," Lera asked. She shrugged.

"She wasn't very surprised. Asked me if I wanted to go and wished me luck."

And as if on cue Andy came around the corner.

She was a tall Moroi with a few curves. Her most prominent feature was probably her blond hair with the tips dyed a deep purple. She had that alternative vibe around her, the artsy fartsy kind with ripped jeans and a multicolored shirt. The fact she went by Andy and not Andrea was also right up her ally. She sat down next to Dani and I saw Dani blush when Andy grabbed her hand.

"I got the tickets. I got couple tickets, you get a free photo if you do. I hope that is fine."

Dani was deep beetroot red by now and simply nodded not being able to utter a word. Andy was the take charge kind of girl and exuded confidence and alpha energy. Dani was in no way insecure but was a little more subdued. They made a cute couple.

"I'll pick you up next Friday at your place?"

Dani looked a little panicked but nodded anyway. Not only because Dani's place wasn't exactly on court grounds, it was located a couple of miles outside of court but was still warded, but because it meant uncle Adrian would see Dani being picked up for her date by a girl. I think uncle Adrian had known her whole life Dani was more into girls than boys, we certainly did, but Dani had only recently made the realization. Before she simply wasn't interested in anyone, boy/ girl, it didn't matter. She was interested in knowledge, but Andy had changed that. They had been dancing around it for a while but now Dani was able to accept she was into girls and Andy had apparently broken the ice by asking her to the dance.

If even the witch gay Dhampir girl can find love, it shouldn't be so hard for me right?

Lera's POV

I was lying in my bed. I should have turned off the light a little while ago. Tomorrow I had an algebra test and I should be prepared by studying and being rested. I did the former but was failing miserably at the latter. I was thinking about the things that happened today. The incident in training and Sasha's words.

Could I watch him be happy with someone else?

I always told myself I could. It was the logical conclusion of my current behavior. Although I never really got that far. I considered every scenario, but somehow me standing on the sidelines watching him live his life with someone else hadn't been one. I imagined us being together and breaking up. I considered us never getting together and always being frustrated with each other. I imagined us working out having kids and him leaving me down the line because he realized he needs to fulfill his duty to his Royal line. But us never being together and me watching him as his shadow while he lives his life hadn't been a consideration.

Did I want him? If I should believe my body I did. Every time he kissed me I melted into him. His hands on my hips and back felt so natural. I wanted more, I needed more. But he was playing with fire.

Even now I could feel the effects he had on my body. Eric never took it any further than a kiss, but today he had pushed his leg against my core. The position had been accidental, the action of his leg pre-mediated. I could feel the heat rushing to my nether regions thinking about it. I was imagining his strong thighs pushing more than just his leg in there.

My hands were subconsciously moving down my body, over my breasts and down between the apex of my thighs where I needed it the most. The moment my hands came into contact with my already dripping core I gasped. One finger was circling my clit while the fingers of the other were slowly making their way inside. I curled my fingers finding the sweet spot and started to pump them in and out while my other hand was sensitizing my clit by making large torturous strokes. I turned over now on my knees and leaning on my shoulders. My face buried into my pillow. I was pumping my hips into my hand as if someone was taking me from behind. I was getting close, my movements becoming more frantic with every thrust of my fingers and hips. I was glad my moans were somewhat stifled by my pillow.

I felt the fabric of the pillow tear and the feeling, only moment away from the high vanished. I let go of my core and jumped out of bed. I walked into my bathroom and checked the mirror.

Shit. My fangs were out and my eyes were red. Yet another thing keeping me from Eric. I knew why I had never considered several scenarios: Him being happy with someone else because I was in denial. Him ever being with me and staying with me because he would take one look at when the beast came out and run the other way. Sure he had seen us transform a thousand times. In battle, in training, on a dare, but seeing me like this in our most intimate moments, was something else. He would be sleeping with an animal and like an animal I had little control over my basic instincts. Eric took control away from me. Maybe with someone else, I would be able to separate sex from transforming, but with him, I knew I couldn't. I hated him for stripping me of my hard-fought control.

Sasha's POV

Oh naughty, naughty sister. Not that I was a stranger to self-gratification. I was a seventeen-year-old boy. But it was rare for my sister to indulge. Usually, our physical link was more of a hum at best and I could block it out. And although I could do that now, I assumed she did it with me, I hoped she did, I didn't because it wasn't the fact that she was masturbating that had me worried. It was the fact she suddenly stopped that was getting to me.  
I walked the few meters to her room and knocked. I heard her groan as a sign of giving me entrance.

She was lying on her bed with her hands over her face. Her face had been splashed with water but it obviously hadn't helped. I recognized the position because I had been in an identical position nearly twenty-four hours ago. I guess we really were twins.

"So… why did you stop."

She looked at me and realization was on her face including a little blush.

"You kept tuned in? Pervert."

I chuckled.

"I was about to tune out and put my headphones on when I felt you stop. Why?"  
She sighed.

"When you… you know… Do you transform?"

I laid down next to her.

"Every time. I try not to, but I can't seem to help it."

She groaned. Not the answer she wanted to hear.  
"Now, when I think about anything sexual I feel my fangs extending. The reverse is also true. Whenever I think about feeding or someone else feeding, I get turned on."

"Shit."

"Yeah."

"How are we supposed to ever have functional relationships?" 

I shrugged.

"I doubt Eric cares. He might even return the favor. There is a reason why blood whores exist you know. To a certain extend Moroi feel the same need during sex to feed."

"Yeah, but if I lose control, someone could die… Besides, I doubt Eric loses control. He doesn't have that beast inside of him trying to claw their way out."

Funny. My sister named it too. Beast, monster, animal it was all the same thing, referring to our ever-present inner struggle for control. But at least I knew Eric understood.

"I'll let you in on a little secret, but if he finds out about it, he is going to be pissed at me so you better keep your mouth shut."  
She nodded.

"Although not exactly the same, Eric burns things when he is turned on. He had a hard time explaining to his mother how his shower ended up with melted tiles. He doesn't have much control either although he is working on it. He confides in me about being scared of ever being with a girl because he is afraid to hurt her. It is why he has turned down so many girls. That and you of course."

At first, she was relieved. This was something they had in common and something they could maybe work out together. Then she was mad.

"Oh so now I am just a suitable bed partner because he knows he can't hurt me. Great, just what I always wanted to hear. 'Oh, how I love your regenerative powers'." 

I chuckled.

"He doesn't want you for that and you know it. He has had a crush on you ever since he figured out what a crush was. I am just saying that he has these fears too and if you let him burn you, he might let you bite him."

I winked at her and she rolled her eyes as she punched me.

"Still doesn't solve a lot of problems."

"Solves some."

I got up from her bed seeing as we really should be getting some sleep.

"Oh and Lera, biting your own wrist while you climax tends to help. Trust me it is better than being frustrated all the time. Makes you more dangerous."

She nodded.

 **So for those that have read the bloodline series, I really believe Richelle Mead was hinting at the fact witches blood might be a cure for spirit darkness. But I suppose if she doesn't continue the series, we will never know, but I thought I would put it in.**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15:

DPOV

A high school dance. I was glad that admits all the death and destruction we had surrounded our kids with, they could still do something so normal.

As they both stood before me know I realized my babies were all grown up. I saw Rose realized the same thing as she was trying hard to hide a tear. By the roll of my children eyes, they saw but didn't share our sentiment.

I still remember them being little, how they relied on us, how they would want to be around us. But things were different now. I knew they struggled with fitting in due to their enhancements, but to me, they were regular teenagers.

Lera was a picture of a perfect angel. I was glad she wasn't bringing a date. I knew Eric had a thing for her and I could see Lera have feelings for him as well. But I was proud of my daughter for standing her ground and not jumping into something she wasn't ready for. She was wearing a nice dark red dress. I was glad it wasn't a black one. Lera resembled her mother a lot and seeing her in a black dress going to a dance made me realize that just like I was lusting after her mother, other boys would be lusting after her. Not that the red dress wasn't stunning on her either, but it aided me in my denial that she was still my little girl.

Sasha was wearing a tux and looked handsome as ever. His dark hair was tugged behind his ear. His hair wasn't as long as mine and couldn't be placed in a ponytail but still, it was long enough to reach his neck. I was a little surprised to see he didn't have a date either. I imagined many girls had asked. But I was glad to see that my son wasn't taking them up on their offer simply because they offered. I knew he was waiting for someone special. He could have easily gone the other way with all the attention he was getting from the girls. Declan certainly did.

Rose was kissing them goodnight and we all moved towards the dance. I was to chaperone the dance. That way I could keep an eye on everything. Including the romance developing between Eric and Lera. And if I deemed it necessary to remove him from the premises, I would do so. Also, I promised Christian I would look after Rosie. Christian was there as well but had other chaperoning duties then the dance floor and wouldn't be able to see them all the time.

I had background checked this Brian guy and he seemed legit. No criminal record or any mischief recorded here at court. His parents worked respectable jobs but weren't overly rich. He wasn't a royal so he didn't seem to be with Rosie to further his own agenda and he was rich enough not to want her money, so I suppose for now he would pass.

I saw Dani come in with a girl. They both looked stunning and I think they actually looked cute together. The Moroi world was still quite conservative so they were turning a few heads, but I was glad to see neither of them seemed to care much about it.

Adrian had come in two nights ago, going straight to the liquor cabinet when Dani had shared the news about her date. Adrian had been completely sober for years. He didn't have a drop of alcohol in his house anymore. He didn't need it to deal with the darkness but on occasion when he would need a stiff drink he would come over and go straight for the Russian vodka. He knew I kept the good stuff.

"A girl. Her date is a girl."

He hadn't sounded judgmental or anything, he just sounded shocked. Well, he was the only one. We all had seen that one coming a mile away. Sydney knew. Usually, they talked about everything. But it was funny, Adrian had such good insight into people. Even without his ability to read aura's he had a knack for seeing through people. But he was oblivious to his own daughter.

"Are you okay with that?"

He had thrown back the shot of vodka and let the burn of the alcohol delay his answer.

"Of course I am okay with it. As long as she is happy I am okay with it. But still, life isn't easy in this society. She is already a product of a human and a Moroi, adding the gay thing is going to make things difficult for her. Also, I don't want my little girl with anyone, boy or girl. She is too young."

I had sat down next to him pouring myself a drink as well. Adrian had a hard time letting his little girl go.

"I know. But Dani is surrounded by outcasts. My kids certainly are. But they are an odd click together. She doesn't care about what other people think and has friends in high places. She will be fine."

He had spent the rest of the night drinking in complete denial his daughter was growing up.

I knew how he felt. As I was looking at my own daughter I couldn't believe how fast she had grown up. It felt like yesterday I held her in my arms for the first time.

As I looked down over the dance floor, both my kids were at least nice enough to acknowledge their old man as they passed by. Eric seemed to completely ignore Christian. I chuckled. Teenagers.

Lera's POV

The dance was actually not bad. Good music, reasonable food, and delicious company.

Stop it Lera, stop staring at him.

But I couldn't help myself. Eric cleaned up good. He looked absolutely amazing in a tux. His black hair matching his black outfit perfectly, making his jade green eyes stick out that much more. He was directing said eyes on me. I felt his gaze all the way to my soul. Could Eric affect my body temperature from so far away? Probably, must be. Because there was no way my body had this kind of reactions just by looking at him. And Oh God… he was coming my way.

I put in my best guardian mask and I saw him smirk at the effort.

"Care to dance?"

He stretched his hand out and even though I didn't want to risk it, my hand moved on his own and before I knew it the treacherous limb had made contact with Eric and my hand was safely tucked in his much bigger hands. I couldn't help the stray thought that hands had a correlation with the size of other body parts. Now my mind was betraying me as well.

He led me to the dance floor and pulled me flush against him in a surprisingly elegant dance hold. I shouldn't be surprised Eric knew ballroom dancing styles. He was a royal after all. I needed to remember that.

He started slowly swaying me across the dance floor.

"So tell me why you keep avoiding me. What do I need to do for you to go out with me."

I sighed. There wasn't anything he could do. He would always be a Dragomir prince and we would always be his guardians. I didn't want it any other way. I wanted to protect him. I needed to protect him because any other guardian would have their hands full and Eric would escape their grasps instantly. Sasha and I really were the best fit. Besides Sasha would be able to guard his best friend, I couldn't take that away from him.

"Fine, I'll date you, as soon as you find another Dragomir."

I saw his face lit up at my 'fine' but fall again once he realized my condition.

"That is what is bothering you? That I am a royal? That I am a Dragomir?"

I looked down at my feet. I didn't want to answer that.

He stopped dancing with me and lifted my chin up to face him.

"I don't care about my title. I thought you didn't either. I don't understand why that would be a problem for us? You grew up in the palace."  
I sighed.

"There are only a few of you left. You can't continue the Dragomir line with me. Can you honestly say that that thought had never occurred to you?"

He was about to protest but I saw a flash of guilt come across his face. It had occurred to him.

"But I don't care about that. It isn't my fault there are so few left, why should I have to deny myself happiness because my ancestors were weak."

I had expected this response from him. And although I was elated to realized Eric thought being with me meant he would be happy I also realized these were the responses of a teenager. And he was right, it wasn't his fault. It wasn't mine. We both had responsibilities. Him towards his royal line and me towards protecting him, not sleeping with him.

"And you will be certain that will never change. You can guarantee me that five years, ten years down the line you will still feel the same. No, you can't."

With that, I left his grip and stormed off. While walking passed my brother I grabbed him by his jacket and practically dragged him out of the ballroom.  
I heard a 'hey' but otherwise, he followed me out.

Once we were out of the building I started pacing back and forth. Sasha just looked at me a little strange. He cocked his eyebrow waiting for me to speak instead of pressuring me.

"I need you to tell me the most insane idea you have ever had and we are going to do it."

He just stared at me.

"Why?"

"Because for once in my life I need to do something impulsive. I need to feel like a reckless teenager that doesn't think things through. That doesn't care about what may happen in the future. For once I want to be free of responsibility and just do whatever I want."

I saw a small smirk make he was across his face.

"Oh, I got just the thing."

Eric's POV

I followed Lera out of the building. I needed her to hear me out. Yes, I hesitated. I wanted to think about her words before I gave her the answer. I needed to be sure. She saw my hesitation as a rejection and left. I was certain that even in years' time I would still pick her above Dragomir kids. I had even discussed it with my Mom once. Not necessarily about Lera, but about being with someone that wouldn't be able to carry the Dragomir line.

My Dad had enough Dragomir in his line for us to be called Dragomir. Although it was slightly different because I was male and my children would be called Dragomir anyway, it was a consideration for Rosie. Anyone she would end up with had to have enough Dragomir in their line for her kids to considered Dragomirs too. Stupid patriarchal society. Even with a queen.

My mother had said she wanted us to be happy. She didn't care about continuing the Dragomir line. I knew she had sugar-coated it for us. I knew she was proud of her heritage and she had certainly felt the need herself to live up to her royal name. I knew it would hurt her if her line would simply die out of existence. But if I had to choose between Lera's happiness or my mother's, I would pick Lera's.

And then it hit me. I was elated by my own revelation. My children would be Dragomirs anyway. More and more Dhampirs who were raised by both their mother and father received their father's name. Why would it be different with me? So they wouldn't be Moroi. Could there be something as a Royal Dhampir? It was a logical conclusion of Dhampirs being equal in our society now. And the Dragomirs couldn't afford to not accept anyone with their genes as not Dragomir.

I had found an out. I wanted to run after Lera and explain things to her. Then I would find my mother and run things passed her. I knew she would approve. She really didn't see a difference between Moroi and Dhampir. They were all her subjects.

I saw Sasha and Lera leave the premises and I decided to follow them. As usual, they were fast and I had a hard time keeping up. They were heading towards the back of the court.

The further you got away from the palace the shadier things got. Sasha and I were no strangers to this kind of place but Lera would only come here to drag our sorry asses away from here. Sometimes I would come here just so she would grab me and take me back.

I had no idea where they were going. I followed them but Sasha took her past most places we usually visited. And further and further they went.

I saw the gate. The gate that signified the end of the court, the end of the warded section. There was still a stretch of land around it that was considered court and was guarded, but because nobody lived there it wasn't warded.

But just because it wasn't warded didn't mean it didn't have any buildings on it. I saw Sasha and Lera enter a dodgy building with an ugly bouncer at the door. Sasha slipped him something that I could only imagine was money and they went inside. I had to follow them, my curiosity as much as a motivator as concern for my friends.

I walked up to the building and I saw the bouncer look me up and down curiously. The thing was that I did look out of place in my tux, but then again so had Lera and Sasha, but I suppose being Moroi was even more of a shock to the bouncer.

"Come to watch your friends, or are you here to compete?"

Compete? In what? He had obviously guessed I was with Lera and Sasha because of our matching attire.

"Just to watch." I didn't know what they were doing so I opted for the safer options out of the two. I couldn't really get hurt by watching, could I?

The bouncer lets me in after I paid a hefty entry fee which I assumed he raised based on my designer clothes and my Royal Moroi air. It didn't bother me. I had money like water. Hell due to climate change I was actually more conservative with water then I was with money.

When I entered the building I had a hard time not making a face at the various odors permeating my nose. I smelled the ripe body odor of several of the establishment's patrons mixed with alcohol and food, and was that blood I smelled?

I opened my jacket and loosened up my blouse. I walked to the bar and ordered a stiff drink.

I felt a little less out of place now that I was holding a drink in my hand like everyone else.

I looked around the place and it was huge. There were a few bars scattered around the room, a couple of booths, but the real excitement seemed to be located in the middle. I couldn't quite see because whatever was happening, people were gathered around it blocking it from view.

I got closer and wormed my way through the crowd. I saw an arena sunken into the floor. It reminded me a bit of cockfight ring. Upon closer inspection and by the blood on the floor I realized that was exactly what it was, except they didn't use birds, they used people. Lera and Sasha, that is why they were here. They were fighting in the ring. Who would be crazy enough to go against them?

As if on cue the announcer grabbed a microphone from the ceiling and started to announce the next fight.

I watched a few fights trying to look for Lera and Sasha. Perhaps they were just betting, there seemed to be a lot of that going on until the announcer was back.

"A unique opportunity tonight. We have the Belikov twins as challengers. They have agreed to not transform to give any who dares a fighting chance, although they couldn't guarantee they wouldn't transform in the heat of battle."

The guy was almost snickering at the end of that sentence.

"But in that case, they would forfeit the fight immediately. But enter at your own peril."

His voice was booming over the boxes. And I heard cheering and chuckling from the crowd. I knew some believed Lera and Sasha and their parents only were so powerful and well respected because they had the power of a Strigoi. I knew different. But I saw many were eager to take them on. I think the number increased when Lera entered the arena still in her dress and high heels. She had let her hair completely down and had ripped her dress to create a split to give her legs more freedom. I saw many people were taking her in and thinking she was easy prey, but I also saw a lot of spectators and challengers were looking her up and down and imagining taking off that ripped dress. I certainly was, but me doing it wasn't creepy when they did it, it was.

The first challenger went down within a second and the room started laughing at his swift defeat.

The second lasted a bit longer but this had more to do with Lera toying with him, then his actual skill. She was moving across the arena as if she was dancing. A fact made more apparent by her clothes meant for an actual dance. She wasn't using super speed or anything but somehow the man was still way to slow. She wasn't trying to punch him or hurt him, just avoid him with an eerie calmness. It pissed the man off. But the smile on Lera's face told me she was enjoying herself. After about a minute that seemed to last an eternity she finished him off.

Lera and Sasha switched with the same result. Sasha didn't break a sweat while all his opponents were thoroughly frustrated. However, where Lera would finish them quickly and cleanly, Sasha took a little too much satisfaction in taking his opponents down, with a lot more blood.

After they seemed to have had their fun and made some people in the bar some money while other had lost obscene amounts, I saw them leave through the back. Apparently, that is where challengers were getting ready.

I followed them in. I had to compel the guard at the door. Even if I wasn't a spirit user, I had relatively good compulsion skills. At least I took after my mother in some ways. My Dad was terrible at compulsion. Compulsion was considered illegal, but this was innocent enough. Well, as innocent as it could get in a criminal bar hosting illegal fights.

I saw them just leave through the back door. There seemed to be a separate exit for fighters, probably to avoid any new fights with people who lost money in their fights.

I was about to call out to them to get their attention when I saw them being attacked. But unlike the challengers from before these attackers were organized and powerful. I was about to scream when one of them turned to me and before I could even move I was hit hard. The last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was the limp bodies of Sasha and Lera being dragged away and a girl staring at me with a smirk on her face. She was beautiful I would have to give her that. Too bad her beauty was marred by the vicious smile and the cold red-rimmed eyes.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16:

Sasha's POV

I groaned. My head had long since healed but my pride had not. I had been caught off guard and we had been bested. By angry challengers? By people who lost money? I found it hard to believe they would take us on. I found it even harder to believe they had bested me and Lera.

I took in my surrounding. I was chained to the wall. Not much room to move but enough to at least let my arms rest at my side. But I doubt it had enough room for me to sit down.

Why would anybody take me? Kill me sure. I could think of a person or twelve. But chain me to a wall? I had no idea.

I knew by the annoyed vibe I was getting from Lera she was here but still alive. But I couldn't see her anywhere so I assumed they held her in a separate room somewhere.

The room itself was furnished. Not too luxurious, but not bare either. There were a few items in the room that looked odd and old. I wondered if some were replica's but somehow I doubted it. But I think the oldest thing in the room wasn't any of the décors. It was the Strigoi sitting on the bed a few feet away from me.

She was sitting on the edge of the bed, one leg swung elegantly over the other. She was leaning back slightly on her hands. She was in one word breathtaking. I had seen some pretty girls in my life and I was a little hesitant to say my sister was one of them, but she was something else. I didn't know if it was her long dark blond hair cascading in soft curls down her back or her slim figure which just had enough curves to be appealing without it becoming too obvious or her long legs which went on forever. But I think the most stunning feature were her eyes, her jade green eyes that reminded me of Eric's a little bit. I didn't even notice at first that they were rimmed in red. Now her pale complexion, her eyes, and power she exuded all told me she was Strigoi but somehow I lacked the instinctual response I usually had with Strigoi be it bloodlust, adrenaline or simply disgust. All three were absent with her.

I could tell she was old. Her eyes held so much knowledge and age I knew she was old. I could smell it too. My Dad used to describe it as a scent of decay. The older the Strigoi, the more they smelled like decay. He had said that when they encountered Joshua he reeked of it. I hadn't been there so I couldn't tell in relation to Joshua how old she was, but Joshua had been the oldest, so I assumed she was younger even if she was very old. But there was something different about her because even if I could smell decay on her it didn't necessarily smell that bad. Or it was mixed with something. Her own personal smell overwriting my senses.

I felt this strange connection with her. It wasn't just that I thought that she was hot or that she was staring at me like staring into my soul. It was a sense of familiarity I couldn't quite place. I was sure I hadn't seen her before. I would have remembered. But still, the nagging feeling remained that I knew her. That I was connected to her.

"Well, finally awake. I was beginning to think they hit you too hard. I suppose you are mortal after all."

Even her voice was beautiful, very melodious and sweet. The tone reflected a more harsh reality, even though she seemed to lack the certain edge of cruelty in her voice most Strigoi had.

"Nope still alive and kicking and not brain damaged. So I guess you should have hit harder."

She laughed and I could actually detect honest amusement in it. That was rare in Strigoi.

She stood up from the bed and I had a hard time keeping my face passive and my body unresponsive but I could feel some blood flow being directed to places it really really shouldn't go.

She sashayed over to me and stood a few inched in front of me. I could touch her if I wanted to. And I wanted to.

"If I wanted you dead, you would be dead."

She said in a velvety tone. There was no cruelty in it. No attempt to scare me thinking I was on my last breath anyway. No show of dominance or posturing. There was only truth in her words.

"So, why don't you want me dead? Am I not your mortal enemy?"  
She smiled.

"I haven't had any mortal enemies in a very long time. It would be a shame to kill you and your sister so soon. I'd be left without an enemy again."

Odd way of phrasing it. Don't you want to be without enemies?

"Where is Lera. What have you done with her?"  
"She is safe. In quite a similar position as yourself. And as long as I get what I want she will remain to breathe."

"And what is it you want?"

I asked with a sneer. Yes, I was jonesing after her body but if she hurt my sister I would not hesitate to kill her.

"For now, I want you to show me who you are. Your skills, your passions. I want you to keep me entertained. It is rare for me to find something I haven't seen before and I want it to last as long as possible, get to know as much as possible."

There was a sad edge to her voice. I recognized it, loneliness, being disconnected. Maybe not in the same sense I had it, but I felt the desperation in her words to experience something new.

"So you keep me here like a toy and when I have outlived my usefulness you'll throw me away."

She smirked at me with a gleam in her eyes. She closed the distance between us and pressed her body against mine. I couldn't help but groan and I hadn't missed the fact my pants were starting to get tighter either. Apparently neither had she. She traced my chest with her fingers going down and down and let them rest on the hem of my pants. She leaned in so her face was next to mine as she whispered in my ear.

"It seems you don't have too much trouble with being treated like a toy."

I was about to protest or get away or anything at all when all thoughts left my head and all sounds but a moan died on my lips as she was stroking me through my pants. By now I was rock hard and I couldn't even deny it anymore. Although I was no stranger to being aroused. I mean I was seventeen. Looking at linoleum made me want to have sex, but this reaction to her was extreme. It was a volatile explosion seemingly coming out of nowhere.

Her hand was soft and warm and the way she was caressing me, rubbed the rough parts of my pants over my head causing delicious friction. I wasn't going to last much longer. I could tell my eyes were red and I closed my eyes so she wouldn't see. But I couldn't hide the elongation of my fangs seeing as my mouth was open moaning in sweet agony. I had a hard time not screaming in ecstasy or growling for release. And just the moment I was about to come she stopped.

"Well, that was fun. We should do it again sometimes."

Her hand left my bulge and with a big smile on her face and a spring in her step, she left the room. I could have cried from frustration but was trying very hard not to show how much she was bothering me.

"Can you at least unchain me?"

 _So I can finish myself._

But she just waved her hand in the air as she exited. Laughing wholeheartedly. As much as I hated her right now, her laugh filled with actual mirth warmed my heart. I doubt she had laughed like that in a very long time.

Eric's POV

I woke up with a killer headache. I looked around and I wish I hadn't woken up. I had not one, not two, but four pissed off parents around the couch I was lying on. At least only two of those were my own. Although the other two seemed scarier.

"Where are Sasha and Lera? They didn't come back last night."

I groaned. No, they wouldn't. A moment of panic came over me. They were taken by Strigoi. Were they even alive? Somehow I thought I should now if Lera was alive or not, but I was coming up blank. I chose to go with naïve optimism and assume they were alive. I don't think I could take the alternative.

"They were taken from the bar… by Strigoi."

I heard my mother gasp and I saw Rose's eyes start to water.

"But they would have been able to fight them off? How many were there?"

She asked definitely panicked. We all knew Lera and Sasha could take care of themselves. Their power only rivaled by their parents. But they weren't immortal. Hard to kill yes, but not immortal.

"A few, six maybe, they got caught off guard. We were just outside the wards. The bar is over the ward line but only by a few feet. Also, the people that come there are also very strong, so usually Strigoi don't go there because it is filled with trained people looking for a fight."

"So they were targeted. We need to figure out how the Strigoi knew they were there. Lera and Sasha didn't plan to go there did they?"

Dimitri was trying very hard not to panic and formulating a plan of action was his way of doing it. The man was a born general. Probably why he was head of the royal guard.

I shook my head at his earlier question.  
"Sasha might have planned to go but Lera certainly wouldn't."

"Do you and Sasha go there often?"

Great now my mother was throwing her voice into the mix taking this opportunity to scold me.

"We go to that part of court sometimes, but we have never been to that particular bar."

Her face contorted even more.

"And you think being seen in a dingy part of town is becoming of a Dragomir prince? Because it is completely reckless and irresponsible."

She practically screeched at me. Now I got mad. Really mad. We were already on high emotions because Ler and Sasha were missing, maybe even dead. I didn't need my mother adding to the drama. But like my mother I added some drama of my own. I had reached my boiling point.

"That is all you care about isn't it. The precious Dragomir name. That is the reason Lera went to the bar last night because she thought she wasn't good enough for me. Because she thought that you didn't think she or the grandchildren she would give you were good enough for you. This is your fault."

I stormed out leaving speechless and shell-shocked parents behind.

I slammed the door to my room like the teenager I was and jumped on the bed. I didn't want to be alone with my thoughts. It meant I would think of all the horrible and likely scenarios they were in. I imagined her lifeless body drained on the floor, her dark eyes empty and staring blankly into space.

After I think half an hour of me alone with my thoughts and realizing I had a sick imagination there was a knock on the door.

"Can I come in?"

I was glad to hear it was my dad on the other side and not my mother.

"Sure."

He sat down on the bed next to me.

"You want to explain that outburst to me? Because it left your mother in tears."

I felt a bitterness towards her. My mother was a queen in many ways. Moroi queen, drama queen, she covered them all.

"No doubt she doesn't think her son should show that kind of behavior."

He chuckled a little bit.

"Your mother isn't used to dealing with rebellious teens. She was always such a goody two shoes. She doesn't know how to deal with this."

I raised my hands in exasperation.

"She grew up with Rose and married you!"

I saw he was thinking about that one.

"Good point… but what did you mean? I have never thought Lera was insecure or thought she was less in Lissa's eyes. I know your mother doesn't think so either."

I sighed deeply.

"She is afraid that down the line I will have to choose to have kids with a Moroi to further the Dragomir line. She doesn't think leaving it all up to Rosie is fair. And it is not. But denying ourselves happiness isn't fair either. Adding to that that she is going to be my guardian it all becomes so complicated she isn't even willing to give me a chance. But I don't care about the Dragomir line. In fact, my children will be Dragomirs anyway, Dhampir or Moroi. I mean Dani is an Ivashkov. And if Mom doesn't approve she can shove it up her…"

"Hey, we get it."

"I just don't know how to convince her I won't change my mind about her. That if she just gave me a chance we would be forever. And now I may never get the chance."

"Don't think that way. They are tough. We are already looking how Strigoi knew they were there and both Lissa and Rosie are seeing if they can make contact. Sydney and Adrian have been contacted and as soon as she can gather the ingredients Sydney will try a locator spell. We will find them and we will find them alive."

He seemed so sure of himself. I wanted to believe him, but I also knew that Strigoi I saw was old. Very old and she was able to overpower them quickly. I told myself they were caught off guard and I didn't see the whole fight. But I knew she was powerful because I felt her power radiate from her even from where I was standing. If she wanted them dead, they would be dead. But if her goal was to kill them, she wouldn't have taken them. It was the last shred of hope and I was holding on for dear life.

"Just don't judge your mother too harshly. I think she might like the idea of your kids being Dragomirs regardless and she always liked Lera. In fact, I remember a little wedding ceremony with you and Lera when you were babies. Although that was more because she found a cute dress and tux and was babysitting the twins than anything else. Royals are going to have a fit though. It also raises the question if all Dhampirs with royal blood should be recognized. Dimitri would be an Ivashkov prince. And Dani is a special case. She isn't considered a royal Ivashkov. In many ways, Adrian isn't considered Royal anymore either. It is just a name to her."

I suppose Dad was right. I think if Dhampirs would also be recognized as royals, it meant the royal population would grow ridiculously, it also meant the Dragomir line would probably grow. But if so many people were royal it would cause a problem. Would they also be able to take the throne? I personally didn't mind. If they were equal parts of society they should also be able to rule it. I thought the monarchy was outdated anyway. We would do better with a democracy, well maybe not better, but definitely more fair.

"Well maybe only call them royal if they are born in wedlock. That would eliminate about 99%."

My Dad laughed at his own joke. Yeah, it would. Moroi-Dhampir relationships and marriages were still rare. But a marriage between a Royal Moroi and a Dhampir was non-existent. I didn't know what excited me more, the thought that I would someday marry Lera or that I was putting up a giant fuck you to society.

I smiled. I suppose I was more my father's son.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17:

Lera's POV

Well, this was new. Never been chained to the wall before. At least I was alive. I knew Sasha was too but other than that I didn't know anything. I didn't know where we were, how we got here or what we were doing here.

There was a weird smell in the air. Like death. I could smell it come from the other side of the door. I recognized it from Strigoi that were old, but this wasn't coming from one person. It seemed like all Strigoi here were ancient.

The door opened and the smell permeated my nose. I tried very hard not to let it bother me or show on my face. A Strigoi walked in. He didn't look at me. He didn't say anything. He just put food in front of me and left. I had enough slack on the line to eat. I even could sit down a little close to the wall. I wondered why they would provide me with a bed and what I assumed was bathroom through that door if they weren't letting me use it.

I wouldn't mind using the bathroom now. I didn't know how long I had been out, but I was seriously regretting that fourth beer about now.

I at my meal and for people that didn't eat solid food themselves, it was surprisingly tasteful. But maybe I was just hungry. Sasha and I would eat anything and like it too when we were hungry enough. My stomach clock told me it had been a while since I last ate and that is was probably late morning. That also lead me to deduce we were probably underground or in a bunker or something. A place with no windows or otherwise the Strigoi would fry. But maybe they had special windows, I know Moroi have them installed. But they still let through a bit of light. I knew at least in my room there weren't any windows.

After another thirty minutes a Strigoi came in again and he looked at me funny since I was jumping from one leg to the other and having my legs crossed. I really had to go.

"You have been summoned."

"Can I go to the bathroom first? Please?"

He had his arms crossed over his chest and was looking me up and down probably to determine if I was serious.

"I promise I won't kill you if you let me use the bathroom."  
I said in a sickly sweet voice. Now the Strigoi outright laughed. Like a full belly laugh. But he did unchain me from the wall, my hands were still chained together but at least I could use the bathroom.

I was so relieved after relieving myself that I actually considered not killing him. I mean my hands were tied, I had no weapon and he didn't seem particularly worried. So the odds were not in my favor. Also, I had no exit strategy. I didn't know the layout of the place and how many more Strigoi were in the building. My best chance was to follow him now and get a read on things. But I wasn't very happy about being summoned. Whoever summoned me was more powerful than him and I could tell he was already pretty old.

He led me down a few corridors and I was mapping the place as he was leading me along. There was a door a few meters away from the door we exited from and a long corridor with at least six Strigoi along the sides. Probably guards.

I might have expected the Strigoi to sneer or size me up for a meal, but they didn't even look at me. They were disciplined. They showed respect to the Strigoi before me. That gave me the hebie geebies. The Strigoi that picked me up was older then the Strigoi here and obviously was powerful, but I wondered how much more powerful the boss is when this guy is simply a gopher.  
He led me to an arena of sorts and I was reminded of last night and the fighting pits.

He brought me to the center and bowed slightly to the person before him. When he stepped out of the way I could finally see the boss. She was definitely not what I expected. She was probably around our age when she was turned. But I knew she was old. Not just by the respect she obviously commanded, and not just by the smell of decay but by the power she exuded from her every pore. It somehow felt familiar. I had never seen her before but somehow I felt connected to her and felt a pull towards her. It was only slightly overwritten by fear.

I heard cursing from behind and saw a moody Sasha being dragged in. His eyes showed relief once he saw me. I suppose my eyes reflected the same. I knew he was alive but other than that I didn't know anything.

The Strigoi girl in the throne-like seat stood up and everyone else bowed down. Not good. There were about thirty Strigoi here. And it seemed they were permanent residents. Not an easy task to keep this many Strigoi co-habituating, but she had done it.

"Tonight we welcome our newest guests. The legendary Belikov twins. Let's see if borrowed power can live up to the real thing."

She sat back down and the guy who brought me in left the arena while throwing me the key to my chains. I snatched them from the air and opened my chains. The Strigoi that led Sasha in did the same.

Two boxes were brought to the edge of the arena and emptied on the sand. I saw two stakes fall to the ground. Well, it wasn't our usual choice of weapons, but we had been thoroughly trained with stakes so we should be fine. For our fifteenth birthday, grandpa Abe had gifted us silver weapons. I got twin small and light blades, whereas Sasha got a huge ass broad sword. But I wondered who we would be fighting. I seriously hoped we wouldn't have to fight her. Somehow I think that would be very hard.

But to my luck, two Strigoi were let in from the back. Really how screwed up is it that two Strigoi was better than one.

The funny thing was that the Strigoi that were watching looked towards the Strigoi in the arena with more disdain than they did us. They considered themselves a higher breed of Strigoi and by the way they seemed to be acting civil, you know other than having a pit fight, they were right.  
Sasha and I looked at each other. We bowed down in a defensive stand and silently discussed strategy.

We didn't need words. We had been fighting together our entire lives. Back to back first and switch when necessary. Try fast first and if that doesn't work try to team up on one and take that down first and then move on to the other. The Strigoi that were in the ring with us didn't seem to know what was going on. They seemed thoroughly confused when Sasha and I were handed stakes and seemed ready to attack them.

It didn't take long to take the first two down. It was actually rather easy. I was about to let my guard down a little and smile in triumph and a giant fuck you to the spectators when the doors opened again and the next two were sent in.

I sighed, grabbed hold of my stake and went to work. The first fell by Sasha's stake and the second we drained together. I had a feeling we would need that strength. I heard the spectator's ooh and ahh at us feeding. It was strange, they didn't seem to be rooting for the Strigoi, they seemed to be rooting for us.

They increased the tempo and let in four now. This meant Sasha and I both took two. It took a little longer and we actually got hit a few times, but we were able to take them down. I saw the Strigoi on the outside of the arena looking at us with fascination as our wounds healed. Two more rounds and the stream of Strigoi stopped. Thank god I was starting to get tired. I saw Sasha was breathing heavily too.

The female Strigoi stood up from her throne again. I would have expected her to be angry. I thought we were here so she could teach us a lesson. No doubt the Strigoi thought we were just arrogant warriors that got too much credit. But she didn't seem enraged by our success, she seemed almost proud. Whatever we were here for, she had wanted us to win.

After our battle, we were taken back to our respective rooms. I saw Sasha was being led to the door a few meters away from me. I was glad he was in the room next to me. Although I knew communication would be tricky, it was good to know where he was and that he was close. Made escaping a whole lot easier.

The Strigoi followed me inside. He had the chains in his hand holding them up.

"Here is the deal. You behave you can stay in this room without the chains, sleep in a bed, watch some tv, we have HBO and we have cookies. You don't behave, we kill your brother and you can pee all over yourself when chained back to the wall."

Well, there was a deal. I wondered what they thought was behaving?

"I assume my brother gets the same deal. If he misbehaves, I die?"

He simply nodded. Great. Well, I suppose being docile for a while it was. Their main goal wasn't for us to die right away. So I could use some time to figure out where we were and how to contact my parents. They must know by now that we are missing so I hoped one of the spirit users could contact either Sasha or me. We could formulate a plan then. I simply didn't have enough information right now to decide what the best course of action was, and seeing we weren't in immediate danger, I could play nice and figure it out. I just hoped Sasha could keep his cool and do the same.

I sat down on the bed indicating I had made my decision. He smiled at me, nodded and left. I was brought something that resembled lunch a few hours later and scoffed it down. As far as being imprisoned by Strigoi went, this was not what I had expected. They did have HBO and some other good channels, they even had set up a Netflix account. The bed was soft and I wondered who picked it. Strigoi didn't sleep, so how would they really know how to pick a bed?

The bathroom was luxurious, with a rain shower and a jetted tub. I might actually try it a little later. I felt like I was at a luxury hotel instead of being imprisoned. The feeling left me both a little happy and a lot disturbed. Why go through all this trouble? But at least I would spend the last few days of my life in luxury if they decided to kill me. I was laying on the way-to-comfortable bed after having just had my dinner. I was slowly starting to fall asleep. The soldier in me refused to go to sleep in an enemy environment but the general in me told me I needed to contact the outside world and my best chance now was dream walking. And as far as I had deduced, they weren't in a hurry to kill us. I drifted off to sleep and had some very disturbing but yummy dreams about Eric before I was pulled into a spirit dream. Rosie was standing in the middle of my room back at the palace.

"Oh thank god. Adrian and I have been trying for a while to contact you and Sasha. Is he okay?"

I nodded.  
"The last time I saw him he was."

"So where are you? What happened?"

I sat down on my bed. It was funny. My bed in my room at home wasn't as nice as the bed in my jail cell. I think I even preferred the design of the room by body was sleeping in right now. I never had much sense of fashion or interior design and no ambition to learn. But I must admit the quaint taste of ancients stuff and new décor really worked. When I would get out of here I wanted to do some of that in my room, which hadn't been updated since I was little and was going through my puppy phase.

"Sasha and I are being held by Strigoi. I don't know why, but their prime directive doesn't seem to be to kill us, which would give us some time."

"So what do they want?"

I shrugged.

"no idea."

"Do you know where you are?"

Again I shrugged.

"We can't be that far out, no more than a few hours away. We are still in America I suppose, probably north seeing as this is a permanent residence for Strigoi. They would prefer places that have a longer night at least in the winter."

"Well, that narrows it down."

She said looking a bit defeated. She sat down next to me.

"He is going a little crazy you know."

I knew who she was talking about.

"Of course he would be, his best friend and future guardians are kidnapped."

She rolled her eyes at me.

"Yes, of course, he is worried about Sasha, but he isn't going crazy over him. He is going crazy over you and you know it. Why can't you just give him a chance? He really loves you, you know, I can see it."

I looked down at my hands. I knew he liked me, I had suspected his feelings went beyond a simple flirtation; he would have grown tired of my resistance a long time ago. But he never actually said he loved me. But Rosie could tell.

"And I know you love him too. So I don't understand why you don't want to be with him."

I sighed deeply and buried my face in my hands. Rosie was a hopeless romantic. She saw the good in everything and everybody. It was endearing but also a little frustrating. She was naïve. I told myself she was only fourteen and didn't know any better.

"It's complicated Rosie."

"How is it complicated. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy back. Boy and girl date!"

"Except girl is a highly trained assassin in his service and boy is a Dragomir prince, see complicated."

"Well let's focus on getting you and Sasha out alive first. Then we can discuss dating options. Sydney is working on a locator spell. It will take her a few days to gather the ingredients, but we will find you. I will try and contact you again tomorrow night or Adrian might and we will find you guys."

I nodded. I was hopeful in Rosie's presence. I didn't want her to read my skeptical mind. Of course, if she looked at my aura she would know, but I don't think she did. Not that I wasn't trying to stay optimistic, but I was more of a realist than an optimist. And whatever they were keeping us here for, it wasn't good.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter18:

Sasha's POV

I felt the pain radiating from her body. I had to actually dull the connection a little because otherwise, I would scream like she is doing now. I couldn't feel her scream, but I could hear her through the walls. I had to grind my teeth to keep from simply yanking off these chains and storming down the door. But there were two problems with that. One, I think these chains were meant to hold Strigoi and would be hard for me to break, and two if I did, I would be condemning us both. Even if I knew she was in pain, I also knew she could handle more than this. I needed to trust my sister.

Adrian had contacted me last night, they were working on a plan to find us. Until this morning I thought they could take their time, we seemed to be treated well. But when five Strigoi came in and bound me to the wall I knew our time was running out. I didn't know if they chained me to the wall to stop me from breaking down the door to go to my sister or if they were planning to do the same to me.

I growled again when I felt Lera's pain radiate through me. She had been stabbed in the stomach. Yeah, she would heal in a minute, I could already feel the pain subside as she was healing but still. I wondered if they would allow her to feed to replenish her healing ability.

The door opened and temporarily my concern for my sister was replaced by concern for me. The girl who was obviously in charge here walked in with a box. She didn't look at me as she placed the box on the bed opened it to reveal all kinds of instruments.

Okay so chained up to the wall for my own torture it was.

"Your sister is quite the specimen. It took Gerard four tries to make her scream. Even the most bad ass Strigoi break after two."

I pulled on the chains and my only response was a growl in her direction.

"Let's see if you can match your sister's stamina."

As she walked up to me with a smile on her face and an instrument of torture in her hands, I was actually scared. I don't scare easily, because well, not much could hurt me, but this certainly could. I suppose it was harder for us to be tortured than anyone else. Yes, we could heal but that also meant they could torture us for longer without having to worry we are going to die. It also meant we wouldn't lose consciousness or get numb for a good long while. If I didn't hate my powers before I was really starting to hate them now.

Also, I blamed my Strigoi side for finding all of this a little arousing. I told myself the animal inside liked the bloodshed she would unleash upon me. I told myself it was the animal inside that found her beautiful. I had to believe that.

"I was impressed with you two last night."

She said as she was twirling the instrument in her hands.

"Most of the time legendary warriors tend to be a bit overrated."

She put the sharp tip of the instrument on my bare chest and sliced it down leaving a superficial gash and a small trickle of blood behind. The wound closed almost immediately.

"For instance, Hercules? Utter disappointment. He was Dhampir you know, humans treated him like a Demi-god, Really couldn't live up to his name."

Hercules, Okay, so it meant she was at least two thousand years old. Older than most, but still a long way from the estimated age of Joshua.

"Do they call you demi-god sometimes?"

There was a gleam in her eyes as she eyed me up and down. She stopped her downward descend about half way down my body and cocked an eyebrow. Was she asking what I think she was asking?

My embarrassed face obviously amused her.

"I imagine it would be hard for you to find a girl that would meet your standards. Let me guess, you stay away from most of them because you are afraid the monster will come out and they run the other way."

I just stared at her trying not to let my surprise register on my face. She was dead on, except I called it my inner animal, not a monster. I think it is actually closer to the truth if I am to believe Mom. My instincts aren't exactly cruel or unnatural, but they certainly aren't very evolved. It was strange because I stayed away from everybody because, on the one hand, I felt like a god around them as they were so fragile and on the other hand I felt I was nothing more than an animal that lost the last few eons of evolution.

"of course the monster does give you so much strength they couldn't possibly understand you and be equal to you."

It was like she was reading my mind.

She stabbed me with the instrument and thoughts of how well she seemed to know me vanished for a split-second as the pain was starting to become the dominant thought in my mind. At least my own pain was blocking out Lera's for now. I hoped the reverse was also true. She didn't need my pain to add to hers.

"Why are you torturing my sister and me?"

She kept the sharp edge on my skin and was making patterns on my chest, she didn't cut me and the cool blade on my flushed skin felt strangely pleasant.

"I need to know how strong you really are. Yesterday was a part of that, but I realized those strays couldn't even hurt you. So now I am here doing it myself."

She stabbed me again and this time she left the blade in longer and twisted it as it came out. I wanted to scream as I felt my liver being ripped apart but refrained from doing so. I knew one thing. If she found us strong enough we would live till the next test, if she didn't we would be dead. So I would endure this torture so we could live another day.

"Hmph, that usually gets a reaction. Hercules cried like a baby."

But she didn't seem upset, she seemed pleased. The door opened and the burly man I had seen with my sister stepped in.

"Casya, she just passed out. Lost about a half a gallon of blood in two hours worth of torture, At the end, her healing rate was close to zero."

Lera, they were talking about Lera. Was she okay?

The girl in front of me, Casya, clapped her hands together.

"Excellent. Get her fed from the population in the cells and then get her some solid food. We will pick it up again tomorrow."

She turned back around. I saw a mournful look on the guys face. Was he sad he had to torture Lera? What was going on here?

"So where were we, oh yeah, I was commending you on not crying for your mommy. Let's see if this one works."

Each time she plunged one of her tools into me I tried very hard not the scream, but I couldn't help the groan that escaped me as she retracted the device and half of my insides fell out.

She continued this until I was barely conscious. I didn't know how much time had passed but by the lack of instant healing, she had been at it for a while.

A gentle smile came across her face.

"that is enough for today. You did well."

I couldn't really respond other than a groan. I felt her take the chains off of me and if she hadn't caught me I would have landed on the floor in a puddle.

She took me over to the bed and laid me down in it. She actually joined me on the bed laying by my side, facing each other.

"You need to feed to heal."

I was quite out of it but was she offering herself?

She pulled down her top and despite everything I felt myself stir. Her pale neck beckoned me and it didn't take long for me to sink my teeth into her. The moan that escaped her only fueled me on. I knew this couldn't be very pleasurable for her. Us hybrids lacked the endorphins other Strigoi had. But it didn't sound like she was in pain either.

I felt her blood flow into me and I didn't just feel my strength returning to me. I felt it energize me like I was just hot-wired. My entire body responded to hers like I had come home. Her strength felt so familiar, but I had a hard time pinpointing why she made me feel this way. Normally I would take all of it and for a moment I thought about draining her. It could mean we could escape. It could also mean that if they found their boss dead they would all turn on us, but hey, bright side right? But after a few pulls, I couldn't drink anymore. It was like I had eaten five cheeseburgers and was filled to the rim. The richness of her blood almost too much for me to handle. I pulled back and locked eyes with her for a moment. She extended her fingers and touched my fangs.

I always hated my fangs, together with my red-eyes they were a reminder of what I was inside, but as she was touching them I loved them. I loved them because she was looking at them with interest instead of fear. Because her delicate fingers were caressing my fangs as if they were made of gold.

She pulled back and got out of bed.

"Why are you testing us, what do you want with me?"

I asked still quite dazed from the torture and the healing afterward.

"Because I need to make sure you two are strong enough to kill me."

She whispered. I don't think I was meant to hear it, but I did just before passing out.

Rose's POV

My babies. Someone had taken my babies. Okay so they were actually deadly warriors, but they would always be my babies. Adrian and Rosie had both confirmed they were alive and we were making plans to save them.

What had our world come to? We were trying to locate my hybrid children using a mix of spirit magic and human magic. It was actually kind of funny how much we could do. Yet for all our powers we still had no idea where they were.

I was pacing back and forth in our bedroom.

"Would you stop pacing?"

My dear husband walked behind me and wrapped his hands around my waist.

"They will be fine. They are like us, always getting into trouble, but also getting themselves out of it in very creative ways."

I wanted to believe his words, but I was a mother. I would always worry about my children no matter how powerful they would be. If we had learned anything over the past few years is that there is always someone stronger than you and it will only take a moment of not paying attention and you could end up dead.

We would have died if it hadn't been for the notes from the future. Christian would have died if we hadn't kept him home and protected on the date the note instructed.

I pulled out of his arms.

"So you aren't worried, is that what you are saying. You are taking a la-di-da approach to our children's kidnapping."

I know I wasn't being fair. I knew he worried too. But he had just given me some ammunition to use in a fight and fighting with him was a much better option than worrying right now. Everyone has been walking on eggshells around me. And I needed someone to yell at. And if no one was volunteering I would pick someone. But he wasn't playing that game.

He pulled me closer to him and engulfed me in a hug.

"I have faith in my children that they will do whatever it takes to stay alive. I have faith in our friends that they will find then."

He lifted my head up towards him, stroking my cheek.

"And I have faith in us that when they find a location, that we will go there and kill every last son of a bitch that had the audacity to lay a finger on our babies."

I smiled a sad smile at my husband as I buried my face in his chest. He rested his head on top of mine and we stood there for a moment just taking comfort in each other.

I think we stood there like that for a good ten minutes before there was a knock on the door.

I called to come in as we parted.

Lissa poked her head inside followed by Christian.

"Sydney is on her way here. She has the ingredients to perform the spell. You two okay?"

I nodded as I looked over to Dimitri.

"We have faith."

I said mirroring his earlier words.

"How are you two doing? How is Eric?"

I saw Christian sit down on a chair opposite our bed. He had to move a pile of my clothing out of the way to do it. Lissa sat in Dimitri's chair, which or course was neat and tidy.

"He won't talk to me. He talked to Christian, but he is upset with me. I want you to know I like Lera, I think she is good for him."

I saw Christian roll his eyes.

"If you talk to Eric about it, you might want to try lying a little less obvious."

Lissa looked scandalous at Christian.

"I am not lying."

Now I rolled my eyes. The bond between Lissa and I had been broken almost 25 years ago but I could still read her like an open book.

"You aren't telling the entire truth either. I know you think Lera is a good girl, you just don't think she is good enough for Eric. I get it, I don't think Eric is good enough Lera either. But he thinks it is because Lera is a Dhampir that you have a problem with her instead of you not wanting to let you of your baby boy."

Lissa looked to the ground. The Dragomir name meant a lot to Lissa. She had once been the sole survivor of the royal line and had felt the pressure associated with that. But she also took a lot of pride in her name. I knew it would hurt her if it died out. But I also knew she had been planning their wedding since the day she found out I was having a girl. I still had the pictures of them being 'married' when they were a few months old. She wasn't allowed to babysit for a while after that. I knew she saw me as a sister regardless of my race and on a personal level, she loved the idea of Lera and Eric together. But Lissa was always at war with herself over doing what is right for everybody else and what is right for her personally. The world would look different if the Dragomir name died out, but I also knew she only wanted her son to be happy.

"Is it so wrong of me to not want my name and line to die out? Why am I the only one invested in this? And what do you mean Eric isn't good enough for Lera?"

All of us rolled our eyes now, even Dimitri. Eric was a known trouble maker and his behavior didn't actually scream prince. Don't get me wrong, I thought he was a good kid. He understood the need for Moroi warriors and wasn't scared to join the fight. I liked that about him. But he was the typical bad boy you didn't want around your daughter. Dimitri had actually growled the first time the topic of Lera and Eric came up.

"Liss honey, I talked to Eric. He wants to continue the Dragomir line but not at his own expense. He wants to be happy. But he did come up with a solution."

Christian said and all eyes were on him now. I swear if Eric had suggested a mistress position for Lera I was going to deck him.

"Oh, I thought about one too. I thought maybe he could use IVF to have some kids with Moroi women while still be with Lera and be faithful."

I gawked at Lissa. She did not just say that. Christian seemed equally appalled at the idea and Dimitri just growled again.

"Uh… no. His idea was to call their kids Dragomir anyway. Lots of Dhampirs now get the last name of their Moroi father. Why would it be different with Royals?"

Actually I kind of liked that idea. If Dhampirs were truly equaled in our society they should be able to have the same rights to a name as anyone. But Lissa's voice showed she hadn't considered that idea and wasn't very happy about it.

"But… But… I mean the royals would have a fit. It would mean we had royal Dhampirs, they could rule if they wanted too."

I was glad to see that Lissa's initial shock was due to the bureaucracy and opposition it would induce and not that she herself thought the idea was preposterous.

"Well comrade, I suppose you would be royal too then huh."

He looked a little scared. Adrian had taken over the Ivashkov seat a few years back, despite being married to a human and living outside of court. But if this would pass the council, technically Dimitri would have seniority and claim the Ivashkov prince title when his father would be too old to take responsibility. Well technically Randall already can't handle the responsibility and nobody was expecting much from him, although over the years Randall had gotten a lot better. He had his spirit under control with medication and was still going to AA meetings once a week. But decades away from politics had left him out of the loop and out of grace. He mostly now tended to his garden and wrote novels.

"Well, there may have to be a rule that they have to be born while legally married. Otherwise, we would end up with a lot more royals."

Christian drew out the 'a lot'.

You saw Lissa thinking about it. If this would be true, Jills and Eddie's kids would be legally recognized as Dragomir too. Although they could make a case that it has to be on the paternal side. The council had been getting increasingly progressive over the years but I wondered if this was a bridge too far.

"The most important thing is that Eric is happy, I only wished he would see that is all I want for him."

"Well Lera makes him happy, so let's see if we can find her and Sasha so we can go back to discussing potential grandchildren, instead of speculating if they make it past the day."

And back to reality. I was actually grateful for this conversation. Not only does it distract me from my missing children it also assumed they would come back. I would hold on to that hope.

As we followed Christian and Lissa out of our bedroom I grabbed Dimitri's hand and squeezed. He leaned in and kissed my head.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19:

Sasha's POV

After a much-needed nap and some food, I was reeling from her revelation. A suicidal Strigoi? That was new. Usually, their arrogance meant they didn't even consider suicide. Why did she need us though, why not just walk into the sunlight or something. Ask any guardian to kill her, hell ask a Strigoi to kill her. Why go to so much trouble just to let us kill her?

And why did she want to die anyway? She seemed to have a sweet deal here. Strigoi were following her and actually respected her. What had happened to her that she wanted to die?

The mournful look on burly's face made sense now, he wasn't sad because he had to torture Lera, he was sad because his boss didn't want to be here anymore. A thought in itself that was strange. Strigoi could cohabitate but they rarely formed attachments to each other.

That afternoon she walked in again carrying her box of toys with her.  
She sat on the bed and crossed her legs by flinging one leg over the other. 

"Recovered?"

She asked and I nodded. Nobody had bothered to chain me up yet and I expected her to do it, but she wasn't very keen on torturing me today. Instead, I sat down in the chair opposite the bed. I leaned forward with my elbows on my upper thighs.

"Why do you want to die?"

She seemed a little startled by my question. Maybe she thought I hadn't heard her this morning. I was pretty out of it, I must admit. There was a strange vulnerability in her eyes that gave me the urge to go over to the bed and hold her.

"Because life only holds meaning when it ends. Nothing should last forever."

"Well, forever might be stretching it a bit. You won't live forever, eventually, everybody dies, My parents killed the oldest Strigoi a few years back. He thought he would live forever."

She started to laugh. A full belly laugh.

"Joshua, yeah, he was always a show-off."

She had a bit of a gleam in her eyes when she spoke next. I think I preferred that to the Casya a moment ago.

"Age in Strigoi are like dicks in men. Everybody claims they have the biggest dick, but mostly the result is disappointing. Don't get me wrong Joshua was old, one of the oldest, but he just liked the attention of being known as the oldest. And we let him."

"So how old are you?"

She smiled at me but I found none of the mirth she had a moment ago.

"Let's just say I got ginormous cojones."

"Are you saying you are the oldest Strigoi."

She shook her head.

"I am not the oldest, I am the first."

I sat back in my chair. The first Strigoi. I didn't even think that was possible. Isn't evolution supposed to be gradual? I don't think you can really pinpoint the first human or the first Moroi. So how could you claim to be the first Strigoi?

She seemed to notice my confusion. A soft smile come across her face.

"How do you think Strigoi came into existence?"

I never really thought about it. But yeah it would be weird for Strigoi to follow Darwinian evolution seeing as they aren't born, they are made.

"So the first one was made?"

She nodded.

She leaned back on the bed. Preparing herself for her story.

"Humans and Moroi were living side by side. They had just started to get the idea of hunting bigger game and developing societies in the Upper Palaeolithic Revolution, as scientists call it these days. Moroi were a little further ahead having more complex language and using their magic to create larger structures. To humans we were often thought of as Gods. They would pray to us to help with gathering food and blessing the land with water. I as a water user was particularly prayed to. We had a symbiotic relationship with the humans. They provided us with blood and we helped them with their food. And as the humans thrived so did we.

But even then there were assholes that thought they were better than everybody else. They considered humans subpar and saw them as food, as prey. These Moroi simply took what they wanted from the humans. One night a human thought if they could take what they wanted he could return the favor. And what he apparently wanted was my sister. Now in those days, rape was a foreign concept. At thirteen cycles she was already considered matured and nobody batted an eye, except for me. All I could see was the fear and hurt in my sister's eyes and I wanted to make the human pay. So I did. I drained him of every last drop.

I don't remember many of my victims, but I remember him. I remember the first as clear as you are to me now. I have forgotten what my sister looked like. I have forgotten her name. But his face after I drained him will forever be edged in my mind. His face and the high I felt to not only take blood but to take life. I started looking for people who have wronged us as an excuse to drain them. I had racked up quite the body count when I was finally stopped.

A group of human witches curses me. They took away my magic, they took away my life, they cursed me to look like the monster inside of me all the time. Not even the light of day would be able to tolerate me anymore. They cursed me with eternal hunger, so I may never feel satiated and they cursed every Moroi to suffer the same fate if they ever took a life during feeding again.

My father had united the Moroi, Dhampirs and Humans against this new threat and his decedents are still known today as those that hold peace dear. Of course in a different language as the original but still they are known as the first royal line. Dragomir.

I lost track of my father in the first years of my transformation. I was drowning in bloodlust and I don't remember much of the first few centuries. Being Strigoi was meant to be a punishment. But not being alive anymore meant I could push my body further, be stronger and faster. Moroi power seemed to fuel me more than human or Dhampir blood. And more and more Moroi were beginning to turn. Some by accident, some by intent. I also discovered I could make other Strigoi. And for eons we thrived. I killed and fed, I relished in the power that was supposed to be an eternal curse. I had lost my soul the moment I had killed my first victim and I hadn't needed it since.

But even evil gets boring after a while. I saw civilizations rise and fall and not even the chaos associated with that could excite me anymore. I had seen it all before. I had traveled the world, had seen everything a hundred times. I am tired and after millennia had passed I finally started to see what they cursed me with. I had hoped that with technology I would finally be able to see something new. But all it did was make the world smaller and I could observe stupidity on a global scale. I mean what is up with twitter, although I like the cat pictures.

I am tired Sasha. I can feel myself rotting from the inside out, time slowly devouring me. Not even the sun can hurt me now. I walk outside and I heal faster then I burn. It is like time is mocking me. I need it to end."

God I can't even begin to think what it would be like to live that long. So long that even the evil inside of her has found some middle ground. Everything is grey to her. No good or evil, nor beauty or revulsion, just things faded by time.

"Is that why I feel connected to you. Because in the end you are the source of our power?"

She smiled.

"In a way all Strigoi are connected to me and recognize me as their mother of sorts. Not that a few haven't tried to kill me, but still. But your connection to me runs deeper. The tattoo that gave your parents their power and in turn gave you yours, it was made from my blood. As you know I am bored out of my mind, and I had heard some idiot trying to harness Strigoi power again. Not the first one to try, but he was the first one to succeed. I played helpless young Strigoi and they took my blood. When they tried to kill me I struggled lose and 'fled'. Of course there aren't very many cages that can hold me, but I enjoyed the theatre. I wanted to see you and your sister. I wanted to see how much power my blood gave you."

I was reeling from these revelations. Those witched fucked up. I knew most Strigoi didn't see it as a curse. They just saw the power they gained. But as I was looking at Casya I knew the curse had its intended effect. I knew now where her loneness came from. She felt disconnected just like I did. Even if she was eons ahead of me we were the same. And wait did she say Dragomir?

"You are a Dragomir?"

She smiled.

"That is what you took from my story?"

She was shaking her head while laughing. What? It wasn't my fault my head was going a mile a minute and decided to through that out first.

"And yeah I suppose I am. The royal lines didn't emerge until the migration to eastern Europe so I wasn't actually called Dragomir. We didn't even have last names in those days, we barely had language."

I nodded.

"Do you know how old you are?"

She shook her head.

"I lost track of time. Years, centuries just bleed together."

"Do you know how old you were when you were cursed?"

She put her finger to her mouth and thought about it for a while. Was it wrong of me to want to suck that finger that was so dangerously close to her full lips?

"Not exactly, we calculated years a bit differently, but seasons still came and went, so we knew the cycles someone had been through. I remember my sister had reached 13 cycles of seasons, but for the life of me I can't remember how many I went through. I was probably around your age."

Yeah based on her looks I would say anything between sixteen and twenty.

I saw down next to her. I placed my hands on hers trying to bring her some comfort. I didn't know why I wanted to make her feel better. Even though she wasn't an ordinary Strigoi she had still done horrible things, most recently, tortured me and my sister. But I wanted to give her that comfort.

She pulled back suddenly and looked at me angry. Oh big mistake.

"Do not mistake me for a child in need of comfort. And do not mistake my honestly for weakness. I may wish to die, but I will not let a weak man do the killing. If you and your sister want to survive you need to earn it."

She moved so fast I didn't have a chance to react. She had me chained to the wall before I could lift a finger. Her earlier vulnerability replaced by a smirk. It lacked the usual cruelty I associate with Strigoi, but it definitely wasn't nice. I thought I saw something in her eyes that made my knees buckle. Need.

"I'll show you what I expect from someone that I think is worthy of killing me."

She picked up one of her utensils and I braced myself for the pain. But it didn't come. She used the blade like device to rip my shirt to pieces and break open the top of my pants. The smirk on her face grew as something else grew in my department.

"See that is what I want."

She said as she was slowly pulling down my pants.

"I want to know what kind of man you are."

God how fucked up was this. I was getting hard while being tortured by a Strigoi. And we both seemed to be enjoying it. I imagined Lera being tortured next door, although I hadn't felt any pain from her.

She traced my abs with the cold blade and I shivered. She cut me with the sharp end and I hissed at her. She smiled at me and ran her tongue over the cut, licking up the trickle of blood. She repeated the gesture a little lower and a little lower. She took my pants and boxers down admiring the view. I was now completely erect and absolutely embarrassed. No girl had ever seen me like this and I was hesitant what to do. A thought occurred to me then. She was thousands of years old. How many men had she been with, how many women, although I appreciated the experience, I let out a possessive growl none the less. It bothered me more than it should.

She looked up at me and cocked an eyebrow. She was now sitting on her knees in front of me and I was sweating with anticipation.

"Well you can totally claim to be old."

She said before she licked my tip. Did she think I was big? I had no idea. I had seen a few others in the shower after gym class and I certainly wasn't material for mockery so I suppose I wasn't bad, but other than that I didn't know.

All thoughts seized to exist when she took me in her mouth. Her hand was wrapped around my shaft and her tongue was swirling at the tip. I threw my head back and I was glad for the chains holding me slightly upright. I would have gone full noodle otherwise. She sucked and pumped and swirled. Her fangs hitting the head occasionally. I was close. I wasn't going to let her get away with leaving me unsatisfied again so I placed my hands in her hair and guided her rhythm. Not that I had a doubt in my mind that she wouldn't be able to break free of me if she wanted to, but based on her own moans, I don't think she wanted to.

So close, so close, one more suck, one more pump, but she stopped. She let go of my cock and I was about to protest when she bit in my thigh and drew blood. The endorphins flooding my system together with her hand still on my shaft was enough. I released with a load groan before I slumped back down. It took me a minute to catch my breath.

She got up and was face to face with me know, Well chest to face seeing as I was a good few inches taller than her. She licked her lips of my blood and smirked.

"Took that better then Hercules too."

I growled again. She smiled.

"Did you ask him to kill you too?"

She nodded.

"He was the first in a long time that I thought could do it, but I was wrong. So overrated."

She eyed my crotch.

"Everything about him was overrated."

I was completely embarrassed and was actually covering myself up with my hands, but she would have none of it.

"Don't be ashamed of yourself, don't be ashamed of your needs."

But I didn't listen. I pulled up what was left of my boxers and pants and was getting pissed.

"Of course I am ashamed. I am an animal. Who gets off on being bitten or finds you torturing me arousing. Who would come when he was being tortured?"

She just shrugged.

"Everyone I know."

"Well maybe that is the problem. Everyone you know is Strigoi. As much as I may have your power I am nothing like you."

She moved closer to me and pressed herself up against me. She replaced her mask of power with one of vulnerability again.

"You and I are more a like then you realize."

And with that she left me too my own thoughts and in chains as she exited the room. My own thoughts of shame and guilt that I had had my first sexual encounter with a Strigoi, and more importantly, that I had liked it, were more of a torture then anything she could have done with her torture instrument.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20:

Lera's POV

I had seen Adrian last night. He was keeping us updated but there wasn't much news either way. Sydney was gathering ingredients and was preparing to do the spell during the full moon two days from now. It wasn't strictly necessary but the spell would be more powerful if she did it then and we told them we were fine for the moment. I may have neglected to tell uncle Adrian that we had been tortured. I still didn't know why they were keeping us here or why they were torturing us but allowed me to feed afterward.

I knew Sasha was in the room next to me. I had felt some pain from him yesterday but with my own pain being pretty much on the forefront I hadn't paid much attention to it. This morning they left me alone. I had felt something from Sasha but blocked him immediately. Really, I knew boys were different, but he was masturbating even in here? Men were disgusting.

I didn't know what today would bring but I had to contact Sasha somehow. Adrian had tried last night to connect us but told me he wasn't asleep at the time he tried.

I was thinking of ways to communicate with Sasha. I was down to smoke signals under the door when I thought about the morse code. I knew it by heart, but I wondered if Sasha remembered any of it. But it was worth a shot. I also didn't know if the noise would carry through to his room.

I started with a simple: You okay?  
It was silent for a while before he responded with: Line. Which I assumed meant fine. He switched the L and the F.  
He managed to somehow return the favor and ask me. I was tempted to respond with Line, seeing as he probably wouldn't be able to decipher my fine anyway but decided against it. No need to complicate matters.

Next question was if he knew what was going on. It was silent for a while. I was wondering if he was simply trying to remember how to answer, maybe write down the morse code signals so he could tap them to me faster, but when he finally answered it was a simple 'yes'.

I was getting agitated. Wasn't he going to elaborate? Maybe it was too complicated to tap back. It took another few minutes but finally, I heard the thump thump of the pipes running across both our rooms.  
"Just keep strong. Pass the tests."

I had deduced that myself. Passing meant to live another day, failing would mean death. But Sasha seemed to know why we were being tested. It didn't matter. If all went well we would be out of here in a few days. All I had to do was survive.

The door opened and I quickly moved away from the heating pipes. I saw the female leader come in. I think I heard her be referred to as Casya.

She was eyeing me up and down, more curious than anything.  
She sat in the chair while I moved to the bed. She didn't have anything with her. Thank god. The last guy had come in with forceps or thongs. Those things hurt when a Strigoi is using them to pluck your spleen from your body.

I crossed my arms over my chest and scowled at her.  
"So, aren't you going to torture me?"  
She smiled.

"Do you want me to torture you?"

Well, apparently psychological torture was next.  
"Not particularly, but if you keep quiet I might actually prefer it to this silence. What I want is to go home. What I want is some answers, but since I doubt you'll provide either just get on with the torture already. Give me the next test, so I can pass and get in that amazing jetted tub afterward."

She laughed.  
"I like that tub too. But I am not here to torture you today. Well, I am here to take you to the fight."  
I raised an eyebrow. Why would she take us, usually she sent some lackey?

"And who would we be fighting?"  
"Me."  
Oh, there went the theory of passing the tests and living.  
She stood up and I was obviously meant to follow her. We walked into the hallway.

"You're quiet."  
"Well, I am not much of a talker."  
"No, you seem more like a thinker, whereas your brother is much more of a doer. You are the general of the two. I know you have been mapping this place, taking note of the comings and goings of everyone, looking at individual relations between us all. Thinking of ways to communicate with your brother. I also know his plan was to see if he was strong enough to break the door."

Her lips pulled up in a small smile. I could almost hear fondness for Sasha in her voice at his antics.

"We need each other. I plan things, but not everything can be planned. So when we are in a situation where all planning goes out the window, I rely on Sasha's quick thinking and trust in his jump in attitude. And sometimes I can stop him from doing something stupid by explaining the consequences of his actions. He doesn't always seem to be able to see them and he and Eric get into a lot of trouble."

"yeah, I did get that vibe from your brother. Act now, ask questions when everybody is dead. I kind of like that though. Who's Eric?"

I was debating keeping my mouth shut. But everybody knew who Eric was and if I didn't tell her she could easily find that information.

"Eric is his best friends, the Dragomir prince. We are slotted to be his guardians after graduation, well if we are still alive that is."

That earned me a chuckle from her.

"Dragomir huh. I used to follow them closely, but I haven't really looked any of them up in the last few centuries."

I didn't really see how keeping track of them closely and not seen them in a few centuries matched up but okay.

"The Dragomirs were all but extinct. Eric's mother was the sole survivor for a while. They found an illegitimate sister and Eric has a sister so there are four now, but still by far the smallest royal family on the brink of extinction."

I couldn't help the bitterness in my voice as I spoke. If there were more Dragomirs I wouldn't feel the need to stay away from Eric.

"That few huh. They were never one of the biggest, they were the first royal line though. My father was the founder many eons ago, but I never thought so few were left."

I nodded.

"When Lissa was fifteen they were in a car crash. Her parents and brother died, leaving her alone."

"And this somehow upsets you personally."

She was looking at me shrewdly. She was good I give her that.

I wasn't comfortable talking about my love life with anyone, and that included a Strigoi leader that kidnapped us. Especially included her.

"So your father was the first Dragomir? How old does that make you? They have been around for centuries."

She smiled.

"Nice deflecting. And Dragomirs have been around for longer than that. They just weren't called Dragomir. I am sorry they seem to be on the brink of extinction."

"Well, I am sure you killed your fair share of them too."

Her awkward smile sort of creeped me out.

"Actually I haven't killed anyone in a few centuries. Kind of lost the thrill. I took so many lives that it got old. I couldn't feel that orgasmic rush anymore I used to have when taking pure life from a victim. The thrill of the hunt and stalking your victim was gone. Draining a person now just reminds me of what I lost, so I take what I need to survive and leave them."

Just how old was she that a Strigoi would lose the thrill of the hunt?

"Did you know Joshua?"

There was that creepy smile again.

"Oh good girl, you really are the smart one. Yes, I knew him. He was a bit of an ass."

I shrugged.

"Isn't that inherent to your species?"

She thought about that for a moment.

"violence yes, assess no. Just like it isn't inherent to you, but you are still a bit of a too tightly wound cow."

Well alright then. I crossed my arms over my chest. Although she wasn't wrong about the wound tight part.

"My parents killed him you know, Joshua, he was the oldest was he not?"

I asked dreading the answer. If she said he wasn't it would mean a large part of why my parents were so famous would crumble. And although they didn't care less, part of why our society has survived is because my parents could keep everyone together. And part of why they commanded so much respect came from their victory over Joshua. If she was older and word got out, it meant people would be overrun by fear again. My parents' victory was important because it proved, that we could always prevail, no matter our opponent.

But her laughter wasn't very encouraging.

"It certainly felt like an eternity being around him, but no. He wasn't the oldest. He talked big, loved the attention. I knew some younger Strigoi worshiped him like a God. He got off on that and it was enough for him to keep him entertained."

Her humorless laugh made way for a forlorn expression.

"I envied that about him. He really could have lived eternity like that and not be bored. As long as he was worshiped he was fine. I envied his simple mind and simple tastes."

"So who is the oldest?"

Please don't say you, please don't say you.

"Me."

Crap.

"I have a few centuries on Joshua. He was one of the first I turned. It took me a while to figure out I could create more Strigoi. There were those that were naturally turned of course, but all of them ex-Moroi. Joshua was the first Dhampir that became Strigoi and it had always fueled a sense of importance in him. I can still taste his nasty blood on my lips if I think back. It is strange the things you remember over time."

It was strange talking to her about this. I can't imagine a time when Strigoi didn't realize they could make more. The population of Strigoi must have been really low back then. Then again, they couldn't really communicate long distant anyway. So I wondered if they shared information like that easily. I was suddenly curious about the relation of modern communication and the size of the Strigoi populations. When I would get out of here I would have to contact the alchemist see if there is data about that.

"Well, here we are. Enter the ring I'll be there shortly. Can't really fight in this now can I."

She motioned down at her designer pants and fancy top. No, I suppose that wouldn't be very smart to fight in.

It was also strange being practically invited to a fight with a Strigoi and we were surprisingly civil about it. I wondered if her age had dulled the savageness of her Strigoi side.

I met Sasha in the ring as I expected. When I told him who we would be fighting he actually smiled. Smiled!

When Casya finally walked in a good ten minutes later there were cheers all around.

She put up her hand to indicate she wanted them to stop.

"We have all that they are strong. We have all seen that they can endure, but can they handle me?"

Cheers again and a few no's indicating the Strigoi watching didn't have much faith in us. She certainly knew how to draw the crowd I would give her that.

I wondered what would be the best strategy. Did she expect to beat us so clearly that she didn't even consider the option of us killing her? Would we get away with killing her, or was this just an elaborate game so she could now kill us herself. I voiced my concerns to Sasha, be he seemed a lot more relaxed than I was.

"Don't worry, We don't need to kill her and she won't kill us. This is a friendly game. She just wants to see our skill herself."

He seemed so sure of himself. It was like to him this was a sparring match and not a fight with an ancient Strigoi, but as I was watching Casya look at Sasha, sizing him up, rallying the crowd, I knew she felt the same. To her, this was a friendly match. Somehow Sasha had befriended her. I think that was more disturbing to me than the torture.

We weren't handed stakes but she didn't have any weapons either, further substantiating this was a friendly match. I wonder if there would be a scoring system then. I mean how would they determine the winner? Maybe she didn't want an actual winner, if things were close and I assumed they would be, she could always claim to be the winner.

Sasha and I engaged her but she was too fast for us to hit. She was too strong for us to do any damage. It was like our punches were rolling off of her even if we were able to get a hit in.

I remember the stories our parents used to tell us about the fight with Joshua. We would ask about it constantly because everybody else we ran into at court always seemed to ask. It was what they were famous for. Well, the most recent thing they were famous for, and the only thing that they actually got a monument for.

My parents used to explain that when fighting an opponent stronger and faster it was important to fight smarter. All they had needed was a moment when Joshua's guard had been down and they could take him. They fought him long enough to see through his fighting style and be able to find that opening.

Now I understood why Casya wanted a friendly match with no weapons. Fighting smart wouldn't work here. Because there was no goal to aim for other than beating her. And there was no way we could. Usually, no weapons meant incapacitating for a moment. I suppose the most we could hope far was to break her neck, but I had a feeling she wouldn't give us that chance.

I was analyzing the situation top to bottom, but I saw Sasha was actually having fun. As a matter of fact, he was engaging Casya on an almost equal ground and both seemed to be enjoying the interaction. I actually stopped and looked for a while. I was just standing off to the sidelines, completely out of the loop. I was a little resentful towards Casya. No matter our differences, Sasha and I always fought together, like one person.

But I must admit Sasha was doing a good job on his own. For all her years Casya was still Moroi and her fighting style was crude and all over the place. It looked like she had studied many different fighting styles but got bored with each one very quickly. It made it harder to predict her movement, but it made Sasha's technique stronger. Sasha was picking up the pace and actually getting some decent hits in. He was smartly focusing on her more soft area's where her age wouldn't have affected her so much. Her face, her stomach, her kidneys. Getting kicked in the kidney's always hurt, and I was glad to see she wasn't an exception.

Sasha signaled to me and I knew what he wanted. She would be the perfect candidate for the new technique Mom and Dad showed us a few weeks back.

I gave an almost indiscernible nod and off we went. I swear there was an actual cloud of dust as we took off towards her. I went high, Sasha went low. I flipped her shoulders and Sasha took out her legs. She landed on her back in the dust and Sasha was quick enough to straddle her and restrain her body. I had moved over to her hands and was keeping them restrained above her head. I hoped the two of us would be enough.

I looked over at the position my brother was in and the look on his face.

Holy shit, there was a look I recognized. Eric had had the same look in his eyes the other days as he fell on top of me during sparring too. Triumph, a little shock and a whole lot of lust and love. The strange this was as I was looking down at Casya from a slightly awkward position I thought I saw the same thing. What the fuck was going on here.

After the crowd had gone deadly silent, Casya finally gave the delivering word.

"Well, I guess I am beaten."

I went completely against my nature and released her. Sasha seemed to do the same but didn't seem to consider it odd in the slightest.

She stood up and threw her hands in the air and everyone cheered. If they thought their leader being beaten by teenagers was a bad thing they didn't show it.

"That was great you two. I'll have you escorted back to your rooms so you can take that bath."

She said more to me then Sasha with a wink.

She patted Sasha on the back but did it a little too hard. I think she did it deliberately because he went flying into the surrounding fencing.

She giggled as a bloody Sasha stood up awkwardly.

"Oops."

He scowled at her but seemed to see the funny sight. I think she handled that perfectly. She needed a display of power to make sure her followers didn't think her weak, but she also didn't want us dead yet.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21:

Sasha's POV

I was lying on my bed. I had just healed from a private session of the Strigoi pit fight and was now watching tv. They actually had a good selection of channels. This mix between being kidnapped and tortured and being treated like the important guest was strange and conflicting. Almost as strange and conflicting as my interactions with Casya.

On the one hand, I should be appalled by her and should be looking for ways to kill her and escape. I knew Lera would be doing that. On the other hand, I couldn't stop thinking about how good she looked with her mouth around my cock.

Only thinking about it made me stir again. I had never met a girl, or in this case woman that evoked suck a response in me. Yeah, I had been turned on. Yeah, I had jacked off to the image of a girl or two, but this was different. She occupied my every waking thought and invaded my dreams.

When I heard the click of the lock from my door I should have been afraid, angry or focused on finding a way out. Instead, I was anticipating her. I knew she would be coming in because I could smell her. The smell of cinnamon mixed with decay.

My heart fluttered in my chest as the door opened and she walked with a smile on her face. I quickly turned my head back to the tv, trying to look cool. Idiot.

She didn't speak, she just plopped on the bed next to me, joining me in watching the television.

After about ten minutes of watching reruns of bones, she finally said something.

"Your sister just finished. She is amazing. Your brutal in a fight, but she is so calm and calculating until she in not and let's go. Then she becomes violent, so beautifully violent."

She had us pegged pretty well. I was more constant than Lera. I was always a little reckless and charged in first. I always had my animal close to the surface. Used him in daily life and in a fight. Lera was different, more controlled. But when she finally let it out of its cage she was barely recognizable as a person anymore. I suppose that if Casya could push her that far that I had to keep in mind she really was a threat.

But it was hard imagining the girl lying beside me, in almost girlish innocence actually being a soulless monster that was testing us to kill her. Although if she described Lera as beautifully violent I suppose that would match with the monster bit. Even though I agreed with her.

She was moving over me and picked up the remote that was on the other side of me. She turned off the tv and gave me a wicked smile. Somehow that smiled filled me with more dread than when she tortured me.

She moved her body on top of mine, straddling me at the hip. Her legs on either side of me. I hoped to god she didn't feel the effect she had on me.

"So ready for your second test of the day?"

I swallowed hard.

"Did my sister pass this test already?"

She laughed as she bent over to whisper in my ear.

"No, this test is only for you."

I shivered as she rocked her hips into mine.

She started to suck on my neck just below my ear. I was wondering if she was preparing to feed from me or for other things.

Although I was definitely turned on, by the way she was skillfully driving me to the edge just by her tongue on my skin, I knew she was experienced. How many men had she been with? She hinted at Hercules, but she was millennia old. She would have racked up quite the body count.

On that thought, I went completely taut. Somehow her skilled tongue was now intimidating. I couldn't blame her for letting her desires run free. She was Strigoi after all. Part of me envied her. She was free to give into anything she wanted. I couldn't, I never could. And now I was terribly inexperienced in this department and had no idea what to do.

She pulled back from my neck and looked at me curiously.

"Not to your liking? Are you against fucking?"

I shook my head.

"That's not it. I… just… You have been with so many, while I…"

A smile spread across her face.

"Are you a virgin?"

I didn't answer, but I suppose my blush was answer enough.

"How can that be? A strapping young man like you? The girls would be all over you."

"They are, but I can't reciprocate, because…"

"Because you are afraid the animal will come out."

I nodded.

She lowered her face against next to mine.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that with me. I like the animal."

As a way of showing that she ran her nails over my arms drawing blood. I hissed at her.

"And I like fucking, it has been a while, and I want to test if you have the stamina of a Strigoi here too."

I lifted myself in an upright position as I moved her with me.

"And to how many Strigoi would I be compared too?"

She smiled.

"Jealous much? I thought you would appreciate someone with ample experience."

Actually, I didn't like it. I think I would prefer someone who would fumble with me. But something about her made me not throw her off of me, but grab her hips and firmly and grind my groin into hers.

"Yes you have fucked a lot of people, but has anyone ever made love to you before?"

Her gaze went from sexy and daring to outright shock and a little hurt and loneliness. I was taking that as a no then.

She suddenly moved off of me and had a scowl on her face.

"If you want someone to make love to you, you are barking up the wrong tree."

I smiled. Not what I meant.

I quickly moved over her and pinned her on the bed, kept her down by my weight on top of her. I congratulated myself on surprising the oldest, most powerful Strigoi and had a smirk on my face. Her shock and intrigue were evident on her face, as well as a little annoyance that she was barely able to move.

"I don't want to make love to you, but I also don't want to be another fuck."

"Then what do you want?"

"I want to burn. I want a connection I can feel in my soul. I don't want to just satisfy carnal desires; I want to fulfill all my desires of body and mind."

I lowered my head next to her ear, just like she had done before to me. I thought I felt her breath got stuck in her throat.

"I want to make sure neither one of us forgets this no matter how long we are still around."

I pulled back a little and boldly placed my hand on her leg and started stroking it, going higher and higher.

The look in her eyes was shocking again. The shock I had figured out what she really wanted. The shock that I wanted the same thing. To feel something. To be connected to someone, to still feel like you are a person instead of a beast.

I knew the moment she pulled me down towards her lips and started kissing me hard, that there was no going back. I should have fought harder. I should have resisted her, be disgusted by her, but my resignation to our current actions was strangely freeing. I didn't have to think any more about what is right and what is wrong. I didn't have to comply with our society's rules of proper anymore. I could be me. I could be free. Free to do what I want, to let loose and what I wanted was to bury my cock deep inside of her.

She nipped at my lips and I opened up for her. She probed my mouth with her tongue and I reciprocated. Even her mouth tasted like cinnamon but I was lucky to not be affected by her decay anymore. Besides the cinnamon, I could smell something even better, her arousal. The slightly acidic scent permeated my nose and was driving my actions. I wondered if she could smell mine.

If she couldn't I think my painful erection pressing against her thigh was a dead giveaway.

Even though I never been with a girl, never even kissed one, I was realizing I was the dominant type and strangely she seemed to accept that. I was testing different techniques with swirling my tongue and adjusted based on her moans and position. My hand was slowly making its way up her shirt and I felt her arching into my hand. Her skin was velvety smooth and I wondered what kind of beauty regime she had. She obviously had money and I had an image of her bathing in milk like Cleopatra did. For a spilt-second, the milk wasn't white but crimson and I saw her sitting naked in a pool of blood.

I shook the image from my head as I continued my assault on her mouth. I started moving down towards her neck, her collarbone and eventually just on the swell of her breast. For an ex-Moroi, she was actually not that bad, size wise. She couldn't really match a Dhampir, certainly not the females in my family, but I kind of liked the slightly slimmer waist and lean body, topped with modest breasts. As I moved my hand over them and felt her hips come up to meet me, I knew they were a perfect size. Fitting exactly in my hand. Also, she wasn't wearing a bra. Another perk of having a smaller chest and I suppose being immortal. It meant I could probe her breasts and tweak her nipples through her shirt. I saw them hardening through the material.

I pulled back and she moved with me, we removed our shirts at the same time and I couldn't help but stare at them for a moment like a fourteen-year-old boy that had never seen boobies before. Well, I had never seen them in this content anyway. She too was raking her eyes over my body and by the small smile pulled at her lips she liked what she saw.

She pushed me onto my back and she draped herself over me. She was touching me and squeezing me and licking me all over my chest. I couldn't stop the guttural growl that escaped me. She was inching her way lower and lower and I knew where she was heading, but although I was desperate for release I knew that if she went there, things would be over very soon. So I flipped us over again and before she could protest I attached my mouth to her nipple and her protest died on her lips.

I used one hand to massage the left breast as I used my mouth to stimulate the right breast. She arched into me and I greedily took it all. My left hand was leaving her breast and was instinctively drawn down to her sex. I first just rubbed her through her pants, experimenting what direction and speed she preferred. She was grinding her hips into my hand and I took this as an indication that she needed more friction. So I moved my hand and heard her whimper for a moment before I opened the button of her pants and slipped my hand inside of it.

The sound she made went straight to my cock and it twitched in response.

I was rubbing her node and her folds and found them wet, very wet. Now I knew the expression and I knew this was supposed to happen but was this normal? She was drenched. I tested the waters so to speak and slid a finger inside. I felt her hips pump on my finger and I didn't even have to do a thing. I chuckled.

"That eager huh?"

I smiled down at her and she reciprocated.

"Like I said it had been a while."

Her smiled contorted in pure mischief and before I knew it I was on my back.

"But no man has power over me."

She was practically ripping off my pants and slid her own pants down her legs. I stayed still as I watched her undress. I subconsciously licked my lips. She discarded the last garment hiding her true beauty and I couldn't help but stare. Her carpet matched her drapes.

If her boobs left me speechless I certainly couldn't form any coherent words now. She was naked. I had a naked girl in front of me, willing to have sex with me. I tried not to squeal and jump up and down like a school boy but instead tried to exude confidence with a hint of dominance. She said that no man had power over her. I didn't want power over her, I wanted to share our power. I wanted to share ourselves. I edged to the end of the bed and stood up, so I was towering over her with my height. I pulled her body flush against my now also naked body and loved how her skin felt against mine, how I could feel her chest heaving with heavy breaths against my own chest, which had a similar breathing pattern. I loved her silky smooth and delicate hands roaming my body and how they lingered just on the edge of my thigh, close to my throbbing erection.

I said I didn't want to make love to her, but I also didn't want to treat her like all the other men would have treated her. I know she would have consented, but she deserved more than a good fuck. She deserved respect if not love.

I took her hand away from my groin and placed them on my chest. I get her hands there with my own covering them completely. I leaned down and kissed her. Not hard or passionate but gentle and earnest. I moved my hand towards her neck and was glad to notice she allowed me to do so and kept her hands on my chest. She trusted me. She trusted me even though I was in a power position over her. I moved her to the bed and laid her down gently.

"Are you sure? You can still back out if you don't want to be with someone like me."

There was that vulnerability again. I knew she wouldn't physically harm me if I stopped, but I knew enough about her to know she would be hurt. And I didn't want to hurt her, mentally or physically, I didn't want to cause her pain. Which would be hard when she would ask me to kill her. But right now I didn't want to be anywhere else but here. I didn't want to be with anybody else but her.

"I have crossed the point of no return a while back."

She smiled.

"The moment I touched your cock?" She asked in a playful voice?

"No, the moment I laid eyes on you."

And with that, I pushed inside of her. Not letting her shock at my admission deter her from the current action. She had wanted to protest, I saw. I saw the loathing she had for herself. How she didn't think she was worthy of being admired or loved. And as I was plunging in and out of her I realized that I did love her. In a strange way, this cruel monster had made its way into my heart. I wanted her to feel it too. I needed her to know she wasn't just the monster they cursed her to be, that beneath all of it, she was still a girl. A harsh and slightly murderous girl, yes, but nobody was perfect.

I imagined sex a million times. I imagined it in the shower as I used my own hand as a substitute; I imagined it when sparring that I would take that same intensity to thrust inside a woman, but the reality was different. The sounds of flesh on flesh and the slight sloshing sound of her wetness as I took her, again and again, were as much a turn on as the warmth my cock was currently engrossed in. I pulled her leg up and I felt myself slip into her deeper. She was mewling at the new sensation and I too had a hard time containing my sounds.

I wondered if my sister could hear us. I knew she could probably feel me, but probably deduced I was gratifying myself. I needed her to keep thinking that.

I bend down and captured her mouth with mine to stop the worst of the sounds. She was rocking her hips into my own and matching my pace.

"Harder."

She barely whispered and I obliged. I pulled myself up a little and grabbed her hips and ass and lifted her up a bit as I drove into her. Bad idea, she screamed. But I was beyond caring. I was close myself and I was desperate for release. I felt her walls clamp down on me as she threw her head back and pulled me down as she bit into my shoulder. The waving motion of her wetness was making it hard for me to control myself. With her teeth still in my neck, I thrusted frantically as I too came.

I had wanted to bite my own arm like I usually do when I am in the shower. But she had none of that. The moment I climaxed she took my head and placed it on her neck. I greedily took it. I swear, I kept coming. It was like my whole body had stored enough energy over the years for it be released now.

After a few moments, I came down from my high and had a slightly goofy smile on my face. But when I looked at her, my heart skipped a beat. I may have expected a smile or a smirk or devilish amusement, but what I saw was love. It was gone in a moment. But I will remember that look forever. In that moment I saw only the girl. I could even swear that her eyes were green again instead of rimmed in red. But that was impossible and wishful thinking.

We both took another few moments to recover our normal breathing pattern. I understood from my side. I was mortal after all, but it fascinated me that being undead she actually did suffer from increased breathing. Did she even need oxygen? I don't think you could strangle a Strigoi?

"So how do I measure up?

She eyes my still semi-hard cock and smiled.

"I do think I will remember this. For as long as I live."

She stood up and gathered her clothes from the ground.

"I just hope that won't be that long."

And with that, she left me alone and naked on my bed. I had made a decision right there and then. I would change her mind. I would find something for her to live for. The thought was strange because she was still Strigoi, she was still evil and sucking the life from people. I should just kill her and be done with it. But I couldn't. I was starting to hatch a plan.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22:

DPOV

I was lying in my bed with my beautiful wife next to me. She was joining me in staring at the ceiling. This had been our routine for the past three days. We would go to bed, and try and sleep all the while not trying to think too much about the fact that the rooms of our children down the hall were empty.

We didn't sleep. We hardly spoke as we laid in bed, we just kept staring at the ceiling willing the night to be over and being able to do something again.

"We have to sleep tonight, Roza, tomorrow morning Sydney will do the spell and we have to be ready to move."

I heard a groan that signaled she agreed with me, but she didn't seem to make an effort to change anything we had done in the previous nights.

I pulled her close and she formed her body to lay close to mine.

"Adrian contacted them last night if only for a little while, they are fine. Tomorrow we will find them and when dawn tomorrow comes, we will hunt whoever took our children down and turn them into nothing but ash."

She nodded again. But I knew she was worried sick. So was I. I knew we had smart and capable children, but it was natural to worry as a parent. I needed a distraction. I needed to distract Rose. We really needed to sleep. I would have to find something that would tire us out.

Even though the situation was horrible, I couldn't help but have a dirty thought about the activity would undertake to take our minds off of our missing children and make us tired enough to sleep.

I shifted slightly so my one hand was free to roam her body. She wore a nightgown, that although didn't outright scream sex wasn't a granny nightgown either. It was conservative yet sexy. Reaching to mid-thigh, with a V-neck it was all silk, no sheer lace, which I would have preferred, but enough to show off her nice curves without being to bleating obvious. It was the kind of nightgown that we wouldn't be embarrassed when Lissa would see her in, but it was too sexy that I didn't want Christian to see her.

I moved my hand up from a respectable loving and comforting height at her knee, to an 'It is clear where I am going with this' height at her inner thigh.

She let out a small gasp and looked at me a little shocked.

"We need to sleep Roza, and neither one of us is tired. I thought I fixed that."

She actually had a smile on her face. I hadn't seen it in a couple of days and realized exactly how starved I was for that smile.

"Well it would benefit us if we could sleep, I suppose."

She said seductively as she moved her hand over my chest. I always just wore pajama bottoms. It was too hot in bed otherwise. Even after all those years of living in the states, my thermometer was still set to Siberia. Rose was the opposite, somehow even growing up in Montana hadn't overwritten her Turkish genes and she was always cold unless the sun was shining bright and it was mid-summer. In bed though she didn't have to wear much. She would press herself close to me and I would keep her warm all night.

My hand was making its way underneath her nightgown and was now stroking her thigh. She moved her head and subsequently her lips to my ear. She started to suck on my earlobe and I let out a growl. She knew how much that affected me. The combination of her soft breaths in my ear as her warm tongue swirled my earlobe and the occasion sting of her teeth definitely drove me wild.

Her hand was running up and down my chest and with each iteration, her hand moved a little lower until it reached the hem of my pants. I could feel her smile against my ear as she moved her hand a tad bit lower and started to rub me through my pants. I returned the motion and was slowly caressing her folds. I could hear the effect it had on her clearly as she momentarily stopped sucking my earlobe and sucked in a breath instead.

She was rolling her hips trying to guide my fingers where she needed them. I knew where she needed them, but this was as much about connected with each other as it was to exhaust each other and finally get some sleep.

She was pumping me through my pants in the same rhythm she used to roll her hips. I felt her hand tighten around my cock almost subconsciously as if increasing pressure on me would increase the pressure of my fingers toying with her folds.

After a few more agonizing moments I plunged them in and I hear a small gasp from Rose. I curled my fingers finding that sweet spot as I pumped them in and out. Her hips were moving with my fingers. Her attentions to my ear were long forgotten but the intensity of her hand on my throbbing member seemed to ever increase. I hissed at the sensation. I let go of her for a moment and heard her whimper but I needed to free myself. This was torture. She couldn't quite wrap her whole hand around it. I pulled down my pants as quickly as I could and grabbed her hand and placed it back around my cock the moment my pants were on the floor. I moaned as her delicate hands were where they belonged. I could see her smile as she did the same to me. Bringing my fingers back to their original place. She threw her head back once they were sheathed inside of her again.

Her free hand was gripping the bed as I felt her climax building. Also whenever Roza was close she would stop all her attentions elsewhere and could only focus on the pleasure I was giving her. And as I felt her hand loosen on my side I knew she was close. I used my thumb to stimulate her clit and bend down to whisper in her ear.

"Come for me, Roza, I want you to come all over my fingers."

And that did it. After years of marriage, I knew exactly how to play my wife. Yes, she loved what my body did to her, be it my fingers, my cock or my tongue, but I knew she couldn't resist when I was talking a little dirty. It was definitely one of her weak spots and tonight I would greedily take advantage of that.

I felt her walls loosen on my fingers as her orgasm ebbed away.

I rid her of her nightgown and placed her on her stomach. I held her hands above her head on the pillow as I used the other to guide myself into her. I hovered over her, letting my hand trace her back and her ample tattoos as I gently and slowly slid in and out of her. I knew if I sat a brisk pace I would be done in a second. So I let my cock accommodate to the warm inviting place by teasing both of us for a while.

I brushed her hair away from her and kissed her neck and shoulders. Her soft mewlings were trying very hard to convince me to go faster and harder but I needed to savor this for a moment longer. Because for the first time in days I could think of something else then my missing children. Well, that wasn't exactly right. For the first time in days, I didn't think and I wanted to hold on to that moment of blissful ignorance a little longer.

But soon my need and hers became too great and I was desperate for release. I lifted her hips to give me better access. I gripped her hips tight and started to pick up the pace. Her hips were perfect to hold onto. Slightly rounded but I could still feel the tip of the hips bone giving me something to hold onto. And hold on I did. I was now vigorously pumping in and out of her as I pulled and pushed her hips away and to me in sync with my own hips. The sound of the contact of our skins edging me on. Also, the sounds emanating from our throats wasn't really helping matters any either.

I pulled her close against me and dug my fingers into her skin as I emptied myself inside of her. I kept her there until I was good and dry. I knew Rose had been close to a second orgasm but hadn't been able to join me, so I reached between her legs and flicked her clit a few times until I felt her clench around my semi-hard cock. We fell on top of each other and I was truly spent.

It didn't take long for us afterwards to fall asleep.

We woke up by a knock on the door.

"Rose, Dimitri. Are you awake? Sydney is about to begin."

We had been in a deep sleep but were right awake at the mention of Sydney. We dressed in a hurry and came downstairs to find all our friends sitting around the breakfast table. We quickly ate breakfast. Which meant that I would take a piece of fruit and a cup of coffee, while in the same time my very hungry wife polished off a huge bowl of cereal and two donuts. I would have protested we didn't really have time for a big breakfast, but the speed at which she devoured her food left that argument null and void.

After breakfast, we went to the yard and Sydney had been preparing the spell all morning. The full moon was high in the sky and gave an almost ominous feeling over the whole thing.

I had seen human magic now a handful of times and each time it seemed to amaze me. The intricate details of how spells needed to be prepared and executed told me why Sydney was so good at it. She had a few options lined up spell wise. She could do a spell to see through their eyes, but we dismissed that one, seeing as we had had contact with them and they didn't seem to know where they were either. She could also do a spell which would give her a bird eye view of where they were, but this would mean, Sydney would have to recognize some landmarks to be able to recognize where they were, but once we had a general direction, knowing what the building looked like would certainly give us an advantage.

She started by using a spell that would locate them on a map. It involved our blood and some ingredients Sydney wasn't comfortable sharing, but it got the job done. Lera had been right, it was only a few hours' drive away in the area of Ithaca.

She used the second spell to see an exact location. It was strange because for a moment Sydney's look was void as she stared into the distance. After a few moments of agonizing silence, she came back to herself and had a smile on her face.

"Got it. It looks like a military compound but I thought I saw a scout symbol on the wall. Might be old scouting barracks. It would make sense. It could house the amount of Strigoi Lera and Sasha were talking about while the small windows would be easy to block. I could actually see somewhere bricked over. I could check the local county's office. If it had been for commercial use they probably will have blueprints and approved survey rapports, telling us more about the layout."

I was getting excited. If all went well, our children would sleep in their own beds tonight.

We all got to work planning the raid. Janine and Abe had offered to help as well, but I left it to Rose to gently explain to them that we might be better off without two oldies slowing us down. Of course knowing my wife, she would be anything but gentle, but that was between her and her parents.

Janine had taken over Hans's seat as the head guardian a decade ago. It was a good position. Janine had been getting too old to serve in the field but was nowhere near ready to retire. She said this way she could keep an eye on her daughter and grandchildren.

Sydney only took an hour getting the blueprints, and when I asked how she got around the red tape so fast she just smiled, making me believe she indeed got around the red tape by avoiding it all together and just hacking it.

And now we were on the road to a small town outside of Ithaca and bringing our babies home.

The first van as stuffed with my friends, Christian was driving and Adrian was shotgun with him. Declan, Sydney, and Eddie were in the second row and me and Rose in the last. We had three more vans stuffed with guardians and Moroi who had volunteered to help.

Much to his dismay, we left Eric behind. Dani too. Dani had accepted it rather quickly when her mother explained the rational. We didn't want to lose any of the children while fighting to free others. But Eric had pleaded and demanded and couldn't be reasoned with. Eventually, we had to resort to trickery and simply told him an hour later at the rendezvous point. He would be pissed when we got back.

The drive was long, and I tried to keep busy by going over the strategy over and over again. I think the people in the other vans were beginning to dislike me from all the check-ins I was doing. I felt a warm and comforting hand land on my hand when I was reaching for the walky-talky again.

"You know what to do, we all do."

I nodded at Rose as I put the walky-talky down. I sighed deeply but replaced the device with my wife's hand and resigned myself to the fact I wouldn't be touching it again until we were minutes away.

We were almost there and I could see the sun coming over the horizon. It was always better to engage Strigoi in the daylight. Not that it mattered to the particular Strigoi. I would not leave this place until every last one of them was nothing more than dust.

Sasha's POV.

I was watching HBO again when I heard stuff crashing. I heard screaming and growling and dying. Well, I suppose Mom and Dad are here. This was our chance to escape. I heard the morse code on the pipes and knew Lera had the same idea.

"Escape (stop), Mom and Dad (stop), break the door (stop)."

Yup, that was my plan exactly.

I stood before the door and me for a split second I hesitated. For a split second, I didn't want to leave. I didn't want to leave her. Now I knew the situation we were in could only end badly for us, so I wanted to get out of here where she had all the power. But at the same time, I wanted to fulfill her wish. I wanted her to be at peace.

But as I heard Lera's door crash through the hallway, I knew I had to act.

I took a deep breath and pulled my leg up, I kicked it in with all my might and was actually a little surprised it worked. She would have been no stranger to keeping Strigoi prisoner, but I suppose she hadn't bothered to reinforce the door enough to stop us from breaking it down. Although I did see some steel worked into the door. I saw it actually provided some stability. The door was not what broke. It was the door post. I suppose nobody had bothered to reinforce that.

I met Lera in the hallway and we checked each other for damage and such. Not that we wouldn't have healed, but I suppose it was instinct.

"you okay?"

"Yeah, You?"

She nodded and we were off.

I had no idea where we were or how to get anywhere, but Lera seemed to know what she was doing.

"How do you know where to go?"

She looked back at me and raised an eyebrow.

"You didn't map the place while they were running us from and to the fighting pits?"

Uh, no. But my sister had always been the strategist.

We encountered a few Strigoi but took care of them rather quickly, having no weapons meant it got a little messy, but we were beyond caring. Funny thing was though that the Strigoi didn't seem to be coming at us as much as running away from something else.

Lera and I looked at each other and simultaneously said.

"Mom and Dad."

We made our way into the direction the Strigoi seemed to be fleeing from.

In the middle of the fighting pit, we could see the fight being the most intense. Some brave Strigoi were staying and fighting, others were running and in de middle of it all, dispatching Strigoi after Strigoi in a storm of rage were our parents.

The moment they saw us they disengaged the Strigoi and let others take them on, seeing as they had brought an army I would say they could afford to sidestep a few Strigoi. Certainly, since I suspected the majority of the bodies on the ground belonged to my parents. I quickly scanned the floor but was relieved to notice Casya wasn't among them. Although I reconsidered. Perhaps it would be best for all of us if she would perish today.

I didn't have any chance to think on it further as my mother engulfed me in a hug.

"Oh my baby, my baby."

I looked over at Lera, who was being dragged in the hug by our mother and rolled my eyes. She chuckled.

My mother pulled back slightly to look at me and my sister. She grabbed Lera's face and kept tilting it trying to discern damage. The blood on us didn't form us and seeing as both our parents were similarly covered in Strigoi blood I would imagine they deduced the same thing.

Once she was convinced we were fine and heard over the radio that they had placed the devices and we should all retreat, whatever that means, she punched us both on the arms.

"Alexander Mason Belikov, Why on earth would you take your sister to a fighting pit outside of the wards, Valeryia Ivana Belikova, how could you let your brother talk you into that."

Our mom only used our full name when she was upset, and she seemed very upset. Yeah, I had forgotten about what had brought us here. Sure we would get some sympathy points for being kidnapped and tortured, but after that, I think we would be grounded on top of the detention I already had from school.

I saw my Dad place a hand on my mother's shoulder after he too had hugged us and told us he loved us.

"Now, Roza, let's just be glad they are safe and go home, we can think of a punishment later."

I looked over to Lera and she had a similar expression on her face. One of pure dread. Being punished by Mom was bad, but when Dad got mad, you had better make yourself scares.

"What do they mean devices?"

Lera asked Dad.

He didn't answer and simply steered us towards the exit. Once in daylight, he did a headcount and radioed to see if everyone made it out. I was a little surprised. They had a large force and I wondered why they wouldn't go in there and finish them off. Yes, it might create more casualties on our side as well, but it wasn't like them to simply let a few Strigoi go.

But as my dad picked up a small device with a button and an antenna. I knew they weren't letting them go at all.

I could only stare in horror as the place went up in flames. I could hear the screaming of those left behind. I knew by the way my parents were slightly winching that they heard the same but I doubt any other people in our party could hear.

With a conflicted heart I stepped into the van with my sisters and parents close behind me. This may not have been the way she wanted it, but I hope now that she can find some sort of peace.

I looked back on more time to the compound that had turned my world upside down, for better or for worse. The place was ruined and still burning brightly as I saw a figure emerging from the flames. From the distance, it was hard to make out who or what it was, but the slight curvy physique told me she was probably female. She stood there, being engulfed by flames, seemingly uncaring she was burning.

I think I would remember that image forever.

 **Is this the end of our whirlwind romance? Was this the last we saw of Casya? How will the twins go back to their nomal lives... Stay tuned in tomorrow for the next episode of Crimson Revelations ;)**


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23:

Eric's POV

I was fuming and pacing my room. They left me. They left me like I am some small child. I have been training for these sort of missions my whole life and the most important one of all, the one where I can save those closest to me, and I am left behind. Like a child!

There was a knock on the door. There were only a few people here, seeing as everyone else was on the mission. Yeah, I was sulking like a child. And yeah I appreciated the irony.

I didn't respond but the person opened the door anyway. It was my mother.

Great the last person I wanted to see. She was probably responsible for why I wasn't on the mission. Adrian had gone with them to heal anybody that might have been hurt badly so he told my mother to stay home. He was expendable, she wasn't. His words, not mine.

"Can I come in?"

She asked while she was entering. Why did she even bother asking then if she just did it?

I simply humphed and crossed my arms over my chest as I sat on my bed.

She sat on the edge of the bed holding something in her hands. It looked like a picture.

"I wanted you to see this. I want you to know I have no problem with Lera, as a matter of fact, I sort of envisioned you together from the moment I found out Rose was having a girl."

I was a little shocked to refuse the picture she gave me. I looked down at the picture and saw two chubby babies. One baby was obviously me with my green eyes and black mop of her, and the other I assumed was Lera. Her dark hair and eyes standing out even then. I was wearing a tux and she was wearing a white dress. She had some flowers in her hair and I was trying to take my bow-tie off. But it was clear my mother had played dress up and she had dressed us up as bride and groom.

"Rose had a fit when she saw the picture. I wasn't allowed to babysit for a month. She didn't mind the dress up, she minded the small amount of makeup I had put on Lera and she had minded a number of photos that were taken. Apparently, getting a professional photographer had been too much."

My mother smiled at the fond memory, but I would have to agree with Rose. That was too much, but typically my mother. But I wasn't fooled.

"oh please Mom, I see the way you look mortified when Lera and I are close and show any kind of affection towards each other, and more importantly, Lera had seen it too."

She looked down at her hands. If I didn't know any better I would say my mother was embarrassed.

"I do look mortified, but not because Lera is a Dhampir or because I wouldn't accept her in the family or because I want to continue the Dragomir line so desperately I would sacrifice my own son's happiness. But because… because I can't stand the thought of her taking away my baby boy. I won't be the most important woman in your life anymore. You are growing up so fast and I wish you would stop."

I was shocked. Speechless. Nearly fell off the bed.

Not only was I completely wrong about my mother, but she looked at me like I was her baby boy. Now don't get me wrong. I am almost eighteen and don't need anybody calling me their baby boy. Well maybe Lera, but that would be an entirely different setting. I just didn't think my mother still looked at me like that. I had assumed when Rosie had been born that I would have been bumped from that title. My mother had always berated on me. 'Why can't you be more like your sister.' 'That behavior is unbecoming of a Dragomir Prince.'

I thought I was a huge disappointment to my mother. But now I knew I would always be her baby boy, no matter in how much trouble I got.

I couldn't stay mad at her after that.

"So, you wouldn't mind if Lera and I started dating."

"Of course not. But just make sure dating is all it if for now. Both of you are young. You don't have to figure out everything right away. And when in a few years, or decades, the topic of children comes up we can talk about, giving the other royals a heart attack and naming them Dragomir."

Her face went from sweet and loving to almost freighting in an instant.

"But the topic is reserved for at least five years and preferably ten years. Should the need to discuss the topic come sooner, your children can be content to be Belikov bastard's for the rest of their lives."

I nodded. So protection it was. I wasn't ready for children in the least. Of course, this conversation was useless if Lera wasn't willing to give me a chance.

My mother's phone beeped and she looked at the message. Her face lit up and I knew it was good news.

"They are on their way back. They are all safe and sound. They will be here in a few hours."

I had mixed feelings about this. One the one hand I was elated that they were safe and coming home. On the other hand, I didn't think I could wait another few hours. I would crawl out of my skin before that.

Really the longest freaking hours of my life. I was pacing the living room the last half hour or so and I saw everyone who had stayed behind was glaring at me. I didn't care. I needed a distraction. And walking a hole in the floor seemed like a good idea right now.

After another few rounds of pacing around the room, we heard the door to our suite inside the palace open.

First Sasha stepped in and although I was thrilled to see my best friend and showed it by giving him a manly hug, it was his sister which was right behind him that caught my attention. Her father had a protective arm around her and I knew both their parents would stay close to them the next couple of days.

Her eyes met mine and I saw relief in them. I slowly made my way over to her as her father gently removed his hand from her shoulder. He looked over to me and I could tell we got to a temporary truce. Dimitri was fiercely protective of his daughter and think he would put my mother's protectiveness of me to shame. If I was her baby boy, Lera was definitely his baby girl and he wasn't going to let anyone near her. But in light of the last view days, he was at least kind enough to allow me to say hi to her.

She was hesitantly walking in my direction and I noticed everyone had left us alone. They moved to the living room, while we were in the formal dining room. Although space was open it would allow us some privacy, while everyone could still listen in.

She was standing only a few inches away from me. Her eyes were downcast and she was biting her lower lip. It was the sexiest thing I had ever seen. I wanted that lip between my teeth.

"So Sasha and I are fine. They didn't want to kill us, just test us or something. I don't really know why, but it was strange but now it is over and we are back. We are fine."

Oh God, she was babbling. Lera was babbling. Put her into a Strigoi infested hide-out and she is cold as ice, but put her in an emotional situation and she crumples. My little warrior.

But I didn't want to talk. I would hear about everything that happened in a little while. I grabbed her and pulled her close to me. I held on for dear life. I buried my face in her long dark hair. I tried to stop the sobs but I couldn't. I had come close to losing her and the reality of the last few days was hitting me.

At first, I felt her stiffen, no doubt in shock by my emotional display. After that, I felt her relax against me. Her body curving into my own. After a few moments, I pulled back slightly. I held her face as I looked down on her. I put the stubborn strand that always seems to escape her main mass of her behind her ear.

"Don't ever do that to me again. I don't know what I would do without you."

She just stared at me with her big brown eyes.

I didn't hesitate I closed the distance between our lips and claimed her for my own. Now usually when I kissed her she would resist at first. Only for a moment, but I could always feel the war within herself between her head and her heart. But I think her head was on vacation because there was no hesitation, no resistance. Just complete and utter surrender.

My arms went to her back and into her hair as my tongue slowly stroked her bottom lip. She opened up eagerly as her own hands gripped my hair. I would have stayed like that forever, but Dimitri cleared his throat. Well, that ends that truce.

Lera actually blushed as she pulled back.

I hissed as I felt Sasha's hand land on my shoulder a little too hard. And I know he did it on purpose.

"Stop defiling my sister and come celebrate with us."

I saw Lera roll her eyes at her brother but we both made it out of the dining room to the main living room where Adrian was describing the size of the explosion.

Lera's POV

Although the bed in our 'prison' had been more comfortable, I must admit being back in my own bed in my own room was nice. I was lying in my bed after a long day. Everyone wanted to know what happened. And I could only tell them so much. I knew Sasha knew more but he wasn't willing to share. Maybe because he was embarrassed. He did develop a little crush for Casya after all. But after all the adrenaline it was hard to fall asleep now. Luckily for me, I didn't have to sleep just quite yet.

I saw Eric sneak into my room.

"You know if my father finds you here, he will kill you."

He shrugged and laid down next to me but on top of the covers.

"I am sure that if he finds me fully clothes on top of the covers he will only maim me, so I am fine."

I giggled.

"What are you doing here, risking your life and limb?"

"Well, I want to talk. I need to know where we stand."

God, did he know how much he sounded like a girl right now? Wasn't I suppose to be the one to ask that?

I had made up my mind when I was in the Strigoi compound. I needed to start living a little. And living meant taking chances and following your heart sometimes. I knew when he kissed me today I couldn't deny it anymore. I needed to see where this went. Even if it ended badly. If I didn't I would regret it for the rest of my life.

"I talked to my Mom and she is fine with you. Well with you being Dhampir, she just wasn't fine with her baby boy growing up and being taken away from her by another woman."

The last part he said dramatically trying to imitate his mother and doing a surprisingly good job at it. It was nice to know. I don't think I would ever get over the fear that in the future either Lissa or Eric would change their minds about continuing the Dragomir line, but I realized it was rooted in my own fear of rejection and I wasn't going to let fear run my life. Besides I had told him that if he found another Dragomir then I would date him. Technically I had found her and technically she was Strigoi and had forgone her title and technically she was older then the name Dragomir, but it was enough for my head to be placated enough so I was free to listen to my heart.

"Fine, I am not opposed to date you, but if this goes bad and we break up because you are a total ass, you get to explain to your best friend how he isn't going to be your guardian anymore."

He smiled a brilliant smile but it was soon replaced with a frown as my words sunk in.

"Why would you assume us breaking up would be my fault, Also Sasha might pick me over you."

I raised an eyebrow at both questions.

"Okay, yeah, but it could happen."

I patted his shoulder.

"Sure it could."

I tried not to sound too condescending but by the look on Eric's face, I hadn't succeeded.

"So Saturday movie?"

He asked an odd mix of confidence and fear in his voice.

I smiled.

"Sure. It's a date. Now get out of here before that date is happening in the hospital because my Dad broke every bone in your body."

He leaned down and kissed my head. He then got up and walked to the door. He looked back and replied with a big smile.

"Neh. My Mom would just heal me."

And with that, he left me laughing in my bed as I slowly started to drift off to sleep.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24:

Sasha's POV

The next few days neither my parents nor Eric left us alone for a second. It was getting old. My parents were adamant at spending quality time together. Although I enjoyed the picnic and family movie night I drew the line at looking at the baby pictures together.

I was glad when Monday came around and we would be going back to school. I was grateful for the normalcy. Stan had even agreed to suspend my detention. I would be on probation and any wrong move and I would have to do double, but I would take what I could get.

Until I remember how boring normal was. The day kept dragging on and on. Was school always this useless?

I was sitting in Moroi studies and I knew if I could get through this I could get through the rest of the day. I wasn't the only one who was bored and I saw several notes being passed around. I was surprised when one of them landed on my desk and was addressed to me.

It was a Disney card with a picture of Beauty and the Beast on it. When I turn it over it had a message on the back.

'7 pm at the bar just over the ward line."

It wasn't signed but I knew who the message had come from, Casya. She was alive as I had expected. I was getting excited. I couldn't wait to see her again. Until I realized why she used Beauty and the Beast as an analogy and came to the horrible conclusion that I was fucking Belle.

The next morning I woke up early and snuck out of bed. I knew all the ways to sneak out of the palace, courtesy of uncle Adrian and had even discovered some myself. I could get past anyone undetected.

I made my way to the end of the court and over the ward line. I was at the back of the bar, where she took us captive last time. The place was deserted. It was early morning after all.

I could smell her before I could see her and subconsciously I turned my Strigoi-powers on. They always seem to activate when she was around. Probably, because I was always excited, okay horny when she was around.

When she stepped out of the shadow from the bar I took her in. Not a blemish on her. I half expected her to be crispy by the way I had seen her last time, but it was like the flames never touched her.

"I am glad you made it out."

"Are you? Wouldn't it be better if I hadn't? Shouldn't you want the most powerful and horrible Strigoi to have died?"

I thought about her question and yes I should have been happy, but I wasn't. As a warrior in the queen's forces I could appreciate the strategic advantage this would give us, but as me, I simply couldn't force myself to be happy by her death.

I closed the distance between us and slid my hand across her cheeks and neck.

"Yes, I should."

I kissed her neck and shoulders as she gave me a little bit more access by tilting her head sideways.

"But I don't."

I pulled back and kissed her soft lips. Gentle at first, but it wasn't a surprise she wouldn't let me show affection for her. She took over the kiss and it quickly became passionate. Although I liked where this was going I needed a moment to compose myself. I pulled back.

"Although you do deserve horrible punishment for that Beauty and the Beast comment."

She laughed.

"I thought it was fitting, I actually wanted to bring that yellow dress for you, but I couldn't find it in your size."

It was somehow fitting. Like the Beast in the story, she was cursed into a monster for her actions. And like the Beast, years of being that monster had eaten at her. Until a beauty came along and made her feel other things than self –pity. Although Belle from the story had been a nice girl who could see the Beast for more than a beast, whereas I was just the same beast who could relate to her. Our story wouldn't be Beauty and the Beast. It would be the Beast and the Beast.

"You really do want to die that badly."

She giggled but soon became serious again.

"I know I have no way to force you now. No leverage, but I hoped you and you sister would still take on the task."

I had thought about it and I think I had a way out. I just needed Rosie on board. I don't know if Casya would appreciate it, but she could suck it up.

"I haven't told her why we were there. I haven't told anyone, but I don't want you to suffer. If that is what you want, then I'll make it happen somehow."

"It is what I want."

Somehow I felt a little hurt. Casya had been enough to drag me out of my mundane, disconnected life, but I hadn't been enough for her.

I looked down to the ground. She must have noticed why I did it because she lifted my head up towards her again.

"But right now I want something else."

She pressed her lips against mine again and I forgot what we were talking about.

I pulled her up against me and lifted her up by her waist. I turned us around and pressed her against the wall of the pub as I began an onslaught on her neck, collarbone, and cleavage. She hurried and undid my belt buckle and zipper as she pulled me out. I was instantly hard in her hands.

Somehow she had anticipated this turn of events because she had worn a skirt. I hadn't seen her wear one yet and had a feeling she usually found it too girly and innocent.

She pulled her skirt up and her panties out of the way and placed my tip and the entrance. She left it there for me to decide what to do next. Had she really expected me to pull back? I couldn't do anything except ram it inside of her. Her scream of pleasure almost as delicious as her warm entrance tightly wound around my cock.

I began a brisk pace. I didn't have much time. I needed to be in school in an hour. The realization was weird. I wondered how many of my peers were fucking somebody up against the bar before class. Usually, this kind of realization that I was yet again different from those around me would have been depressing, but I noticed I didn't care anymore. Because even if neither of us really belonged anywhere, we belonged to each other.

The thought was enough to send me over the edge and I was a little proud of myself as I felt her follow. She clung to me for a few moments before she let herself down from me. I noticed she lingered a little at my chest where she placed her head against it, simply listening to my heartbeat. It was a strangely intimate and affectionate moment, that I hadn't expected her to do. But I noticed she was relishing in the contact, in the connection she had with me. Somehow this made this moment more precious to me than the moment before when I was having sex with her. Although as a teenage boy, that was high on the list as well.

The moment was slightly ruined thought when I had to place my sticky cock back in my pants and saw my come flow down her legs. I would have to clean myself up before I went to school.

She looked up at me with almost pleading eyes.

"Same time tomorrow?"

I nodded.

"And talk to your sister. It will take the both of you. No stake has been able to get past my sternum for centuries now."

I nodded with a heavy heart.

I had heard my parents say the same about Joshua. It had taken both of them to kill him. Casya was even older, so I imaged it would be difficult. Although we did have better weapons. My broadsword might be a bit overkill, but Lera's twin blades would be perfect. They were sharp as hell and could slice through anything. Even her heart.

I was almost late for school after changing my clothes and eating breakfast so I rushed to school. I couldn't afford another blemish on my record.

I had wanted to talk to Rosie this morning, but because of the lack of time, I had to wait until lunch time.

"Hey Rosie, can I talk to you in private for a minute?"

Rosie was my only hope. Adrian would have me committed if I asked him, Lissa would tattle to my parents who then would have me committed but Rosie I think I could convince. If not I would actually have to kill Casya. Not just for her sake, but for the sake of the world. And I didn't know if I could do that.

Lera's POV

I had noticed Sasha sneaking off this morning and decided to follow him. What I saw would scar me for life. How stupid could he be and how had she survived?

I didn't get a chance to speak to him this morning, but he was home now and I would give him a piece of my mind.

I walked into his room and he was just staring at the ceiling like a love-sick puppy.

"Are you completely insane?"

He looked over to me. At first, he looked confused then realization dawned on him and he actually looked a little bit scared.

"You don't understand Lera… she…"

"She kidnapped us, tortured us. Is she actually convincing you to join her? Is that why she kidnapped us, she wanted to seduce you to be her general? How stupid can you be Sasha, she is playing you, she is…"

"She wants to die."

Okay, that shut up my ramble a bit.

"What do you mean?"

He took a deep breath, this seemed to way down heavily on him.

"That is why she took us because she wants us to kill her. She was testing us if we were strong enough and worthy enough to do it."

Well, that was not what I expected. A suicidal Strigoi. But somehow I knew he had been telling the truth. She had confided in me she lost the thrill of the hunt. I wondered what else she had lost to time.

"So she was just testing you this morning then?"

I had my arms crossed over my chest. Even if she did take us to kill her, he was still voluntarily sleeping with a Strigoi. Well, at least he had the decency to look embarrassed.

"I feel different around her Lera. I know she is sort of evil and all that but I don't feel that when I am around her. I feel connected to her. Like I finally found someplace to belong. She gets me. She gets how my power makes me feel disconnected from everyone. She sees the animal inside and she isn't afraid."

I sighed. She wasn't afraid because she had a similar animal inside of her. Maybe he had to go through this himself to figure out that he was more than just his Strigoi side. Besides if she wanted to die, I had no problem helping her out there. I could kill her and keep her away from my baby brother. Two birds one stone, well stake or sword actually but still.

"But you need to kill her."

Suddenly the love sick boy was gone and a determined man with passion in his eyes was in its place.

"No, I don't. I have found a way around it. But I will need your help."

He then explained his plan to me and my mouth just kept dropping and dropping to the ground further as he outlines his plan. I practically keeled over when he revealed to me she was actually the first Strigoi. So she wasn't just evil. She was the original evil.

My brother was an idiot.

I was still reeling from all the things he told me when I got back to my room. I was so in my own thoughts I hadn't even noticed my mother sitting on my bed. When she saw me see her, she patted the spot next to her and motioned for me to sit down. Not good.

"I wanted to talk to you about you and Eric."

I groaned. I so didn't need this talk. The birds and the bees one was awkward enough. And it got worse when she pulled out a box of condoms. If I had been in a bitchy mood I might have told her to take it next door.

"Now that you are dating Eric, I want you to know I am here if you have any questions in that department. But most of all, I want you to be safe. If you prefer birth-control, I can take you to the doctors to get a prescription, but I would advise starting with these. Although I think Eric has been truthful about not being with anybody previously, you can never to be careful when it comes to STD's. Although Moroi usually doesn't carry many."

I just stared at her. Were we really having this conversation?

"Now, although I know you and Eric have strong feelings for each other, I don't want you to feel pressured. It can be wonderful when you are both ready, but I don't want you to do anything you aren't ready for. If Eric really loves you, he will wait."

"uh."

I had no idea what to say. I hadn't really given it much thought. I had mostly focused on staying away from Eric and then focused on making the decision of dating him. I hadn't given sex much thought. And I didn't know if Eric did. I mean I think we would get there eventually, but we hadn't even been on one date. When I told my mother that, there was an odd expression on her face.

"Well dating isn't strictly necessary for that sort of thing, but I am glad you are just seeing where things go naturally."

I thought about the natural progression of my parents' relationship. My Dad had been her mentor and I doubted they would have dated because of that. We had asked across the years if they had been together before she graduated but always got a non-commital answer. As I was looking at my mother now I knew, not only had they been together, they had also been _together_. I think I now understood why my Mom was so quick with the condoms, she had been my age when she and Dad hooked up and although both Dhampirs, I think she understood how things could go from zero to a hundred in seconds. I shuddered at the thought.

"Yeah, thanks, Mom. I appreciate it. If I have any questions I'll talk to you."

Like hell, I will. If I have specific questions I will google them. I really didn't want to learn from my mother's experience. Certainly, because the only experience she had was with my father.

I would talk to Declan before I would talk to my mother.

"Does Dad know you are doing this?"

"Oh God no. If he knew, he would kill me and give you a chastity belt. But I have been your age once and I know that I rather have you prepared."

"He is such a hypocrite. He doesn't think that way about Sasha and he is younger than me."

"By five minutes."

"And he certainly didn't think it was bad when he took your virginity, so why am I being singled out here."

She laughed. And blushed. Oh god was she remembering their first time?

"I know, but that is what Dad's do. Although I don't think your father will actively encourage Sasha to have sex, I do think they will have a similar sex talk like this when the times comes for him."

Too late.

"But I suppose it will be more about respecting a woman and her needs and making sure you take care of your end of the deal in protection as well."

Not necessary, both the protection and the respecting part.

"I know, your father will have to accept you growing up and becoming an adult, but I think as long as he can be in denial a little longer he would prefer that."

I giggled. Well, I wasn't going to give him a blow by blow anyway. But I suppose that at some point when Eric and I would spend the night in the others room there really wasn't much else we could be doing. I don't think the whole 'but it was late and it was far to my own house so I stayed over' really worked here.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25:

Sasha's POV

The next few days I went to the bar in the morning. We would talk and we would have sex. And we would avoid the topic of her death. Whenever she would ask, I replied that Lera was thinking on it and devising a strategy. There really wasn't another strategy than simply putting the sword through her heart, but I think she understood I needed a bit of time too to come to terms with it.

But today I hadn't come alone.

Lera was walking beside me a little anxious. Rosie was behind us but out of sight. I knew that if Casya knew what I was planning, she wouldn't agree. I hoped she would be able to forgive me for this.

Lera had her weapons strapped on her back and I had my broadsword in its holster at my back as well.

When I came to the back of the bar and crossed the ward line I saw her standing there with her back against the side of the bar. One foot was raised against it and she was looking at the sky. The sky was clear and the stars were clearly visible. To us, it would look like a damn disco, but I saw her admiring the view in wonder.

When she turned around she was excited and then the relief she had been longing for finally crossed her face as she saw Lera following me behind. With a small smile on her face, she turned back to the sky.

"Sometimes I wonder if I am a big baby. These stars have been around a lot longer than I and will be there long after I am dust. I don't hear them complaining."

"Why are you complaining? How do we know this isn't some trick?"

Lera asked and I shot her glare, but Casya smiled.

"Yeah a wonderful trap I have laid, where I leave myself completely vulnerable and open to being killed. Besides, I was mortal once. We simply aren't built to last forever. Maybe our minds are too simple, maybe we as a species are too weak. But I need it to end."

"So you don't mind if we restrain you a little then."

Casya looked over to me as if asking for reassurance. I gave her a small nod and she extended her hands to Lera.

Lera had brought a pair of heavy duty cuffs. From where I don't know and I don't want to know. She instructed Casya to turn around and she clasped her hands behind her back.

"Are you sure?"

I asked her as she turned back around.

The look of peace on her face told me as much as her actual words of assurance did. I was doubting my decision now. I think she would hate me forever. But it was too late to change my decision now.

Lera pulled her swords from her back.

"We figured these were our best bet. They are super-sharp because the blade was folded and I think Sasha's broadsword may be a bit much don't you think? I'll be wielding the blade."

She looked a little panicked back to me.

"You're not going to help?"

"I'll be holding you. It will be as much a task of pushing from this side as it will be slicing from that side. The counterweight will actually help."

And it would help. It would also ensure that Casya couldn't escape once she saw we had something else in mind. It was the only reason Lera was willing to help. She had to be restrained at all times and if our plan would fail we would kill her. Either way, the first Strigoi would be no more after tonight.

I moved behind Casya and I heard her breath hitch as I pressed her body against mine. I felt a little excited and a little sad. Would she still react this way to me after this was done? Would she be alive to do it?

"When Lera charges, I will move you forward that way we will have the maximum force both ways and we can utilize our powers more efficiently than when we would both be yielding that sword."

Also then I wouldn't have to look her in the eyes if this went all wrong and the light would fade from them.

I saw Lera pull back the sword to strike. I subconsciously pulled her closer and whispered in her ear.

"I love you. Please forgive me."

The moment Lera charged Rosie came around the corner and placed her hand on the sword. She and Lera both yielded the sword as I braced Casya against me and pushed her forward. We were hoping Rosie's hands on the blade would be enough. Our blades were always charmed with all five elements so she didn't have to charm it again. We were hoping this would be enough to restore her.

But I couldn't see the results as a white light blinded me and knocked me out.

I woke up groggy. I tried to move my hand but was surprised at the effort it took. I could hear a faint beeping, but the sound sounded muffled. I tried to open my eyes and expected the light to be blinding, but it was actually really dull. I placed my hand in front of my eyes and saw a tube coming out of it, or going into me?

I pulled it out and it hurt. But that wasn't what was weird. The weird thing was that it kept hurting. The little drop of blood was still there and it didn't seem to go away. I wiped it away but a new drop formed almost immediately.

I was so fixated on the dripping blood and the slight sting it seemed to associate with that I didn't notice Eric walking in with a cup of coffee.

"Dude, Are you high, you have been staring at your hand for a while."

"Yeah. I am fine. How did I end up here, what happened?"

He sat down next to me.

"We are still trying to figure that out. I was with your Dad when he passed out. He was having his 'talk' with me about my date with Lera this weekend when he suddenly collapsed. I hear my Mom scream and your Mom had collapsed too. We took them to the hospital when we got a call from a very tired Rosie. You, Lera and this girl were unconscious, but Rosie isn't talking. She said you would explain when you woke up."

"How are my Mom and Dad and Lera, and is that girl here too?"

"They are fine. Your Mom woke up an hour ago and your Dad is coming around, but Lera and Jane Doe are still unconscious, although their vitals are stable so we expect them to wake up soon."

"Where is she?"

"Lera is in the next room."

"Not Lera, Casya."

"Who?"

"Jane Doe, Where is Jane Doe?"

"Room 220."

Eric looked at me funny as I was trying to get out of bed and stumble across the hall.

"Dude, hospital gown."

I just glared at him and kept walking. My legs felt strange. It felt like they could barely support my weight. I was glad room 220 was across the hall because I would have gone full noodle in the hallway if it was any further.

There she was lying in the hospital bed. The same tubes that had been in me, were also attached to her. I heard her heartbeat on the monitor and saw the slight rise and fall of her chest as she breathed in and out. She was as beautiful as the first time I saw her, but this time her skin wasn't as pale as snow. It had a slight shade of pink in it.

I sat down next to her bed. I grabbed her hand in mine and just rubbed the soft skin.

I felt her stir a little as I was slowly making patterns on her skin.

"So did your dumb-ass plan work?"

I looked around and saw my sister standing in the doorway. Eric was by her side in a moment and I understood why. Just like me, she looked a little weak. She looked vulnerable. I don't think Lera or I have been vulnerable a day in our lives.

"I am not sure. I don't think she is Strigoi anymore. But I won't know exactly how she is until she wakes up."

Realization crossed Eric's face.

"She is restored?"

I nodded while looking at Casya.

But I should have been paying attention to Eric. Because he decked me.

"You let my fourteen-year-old sister get close enough to a Strigoi to restore her. Do you know how dangerous that is? Do you know what could have happened?"

Then he turned around to Lera. A storm on his face.

"You knew about this? You allowed this?"

"Oh keep your pants on Eric, Rosie volunteered and we were with her the entire time, she was never in any danger."

He just gawked at her not really knowing what to say.

I think he was about to comment when I heard Casya stir and groan as she opened her eyes. Everyone seemed deadly silent. Her eyes turned to me and for a long time, they stayed focused on me. I didn't know what to say and I don't think she did either. Not right now. I saw she was processing this but was rather confused as to what had happened.

"Okay, well, we will give you some privacy, but you get to explain this to Mom and Dad. I am not touching that." Lera said as she and Erik walked out the room with her hands raised in the air as if cleaning her hands of this.

When they were gone and the door closed Casya eyes narrowed and became angry. Yeah, I expected that.

"What. Did. You. Do?"

I took a deep breath.

"I restored you. Well actually Rosie did, she is the spirit user. But you aren't Strigoi anymore. You are a Moroi again."

Shock registered on her face and she looked at her hands as if she expected to see something completely different then her soft warm hands.

"Why."

"You asked me to kill you and I couldn't. But I realized that it wasn't so much you dying this instant, but you needed an end to your life. And now you do. You will age now. You will hopefully live another seventy to eighty years. I know this isn't what you asked for. But I hoped you would live one more lifetime. With me."

I looked down at my hands. I was a coward and didn't want to see the anger in her eyes directed at me. I didn't want to hear her laugh at how foolish I was for thinking this fling was worth anything. But she didn't laugh, she didn't shout. All I heard was a broken whisper.

"You want to spend a lifetime with me?"

I looked up and saw the same fear I had reflected in her. She was afraid I would reject her because of what she was. What she used to be.

"I do. I love you."

Tears were starting to form in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

"Why, I am a monster."

"You are not a monster. Not anymore, and to me you never were."

She sat up in her bed. Slightly panicked and annoyed and angry.

"You don't get it Sasha. That may be true for every other Strigoi, but not for me. They cursed me for a reason. They made me the monster I was on the inside. All the evil every Strigoi has done since then, has fallen on me. Because I was that evil, to begin with. I can feel my soul as this foreign thing inside of me. Rejecting me and everything I have done. I don't deserve redemption Sasha. I don't deserve to be loved. I don't deserve forgiveness for everything that I have done."

I took her hand in mine.

"You have paid for your crimes. You have suffered for almost an eternity. Everyone deserves a shot at redemption. This is yours. Live one life. That is something you haven't done in all your eons of existing. You haven't lived."

She didn't know what to say. I didn't either. She had to decide for herself if she wanted to give this life a chance. She may have experienced almost everything over the years, but this was new for her. I was just glad she wasn't a blubbering mess. From what I heard about Strigoi restorations is that it is quite the emotional roller-coaster. But I suppose she had gotten her emotions in check eons ago.

I laid down next to her and pulled her against me. She laid her head on my chest and this seemed to give her some peace.

"Everything is so quiet. Before I could hear everything. I could hear the individual muscles in your heart contracting. I could hear the blood rush through your veins. I would have been able to feel the molecules of salt enter my body in this IV. But nothing. I don't feel anything."

"Do you miss it?"

She smiled against my chest.

"No. I kind of like it. It's… calm and peaceful. I now realize I have been on sensory overload for a few millennia."

I chuckled. I tried to turn on my own Strigoi senses so I could compare, but noticed it wasn't working. Huh. I might still be in shock or something from the spirit blast.

I think it took my parents and Lera another hour to finally lose patience and come into the room. Casya had fallen asleep on my chest.

I saw my mother's eyes bug out of her head when she saw me in bed with another woman. My Dad's eyes just darkened.

"So how are you. Eric told me you two collapsed too. Why?"

Both my parents looked at me shrewdly.

"We don't know, we are trying to figure it out, but in the meanwhile, care to explain this. Who is she?"

Sighed deeply. I wasn't getting out of this.

"This is Casya. She was the Strigoi that kidnapped us. We kind of… bonded while she had me captured and I decided that restoring her was better than killing her."

My Mother's eyes were going from me to Casya, to me and down to my hand and arm firmly and protectively wrapped around her and then she started laughing. Hard.

Lera and my Dad were just staring at her. But she was keeling over now from all the laughing.

"Seriously, Strigoi? You had to fall for a Strigoi? I knew that if you brought home a date it would surprise us all, but a Strigoi?"

And she kept laughing. I heard my Dad chuckle and my sister just shake her head.

I think it took five minutes for my Mom to calm down, but when she finally did, I had to tell the whole story.

So I might have left out the hardcore sex part, but I think I saw my mother looking at me knowingly at the parts I edited.

"Well, this will be a big adjustment for her."

That was all my Mom said and I nodded. My Dad, however, had a different approach to this.

"Have you thought this through? I mean where is she going to live? What will she do? Has she even had a basic education? Does she have any skills? Will she be able to live in the Moroi world, when other people find out she was the cause for so many of the death of family and loved ones?"

Well no I hadn't thought about any of that.

"Well, I don't think the fact she was the original Strigoi should become common knowledge. I restored her because she deserved some peace."

Well, we all nodded to that. I hadn't told Rosie that part either. And that information hadn't been given outside of this room.

We were all discharged from the hospital that afternoon and my father's question came back to me. Where would she live? I looked pleadingly at my mother and she nodded.

"She can stay in the guest room for now until she can figure out what she wants."

I nodded. I had hoped she hadn't specified the guest room but okay.

We were welcomed by the entire family and extended family. Even Grandma had come. God, why were they all here?

I grabbed Casya's hand and squeezed hard.

"Oh good, you are all here, We have a problem… Oh hello, and who do we have here?"

Grandma's words may sound nice, but I could feel Casya recoil at the intensity of her gaze.

"Grandma, this is Casya, Casya this is Janine, my grandmother, and this is the rest of the family. I would love to introduce you grandma but you said there were problems?"

Nice deflecting. But grandma shared a look with Sydney and she nodded.

"We have been getting weird reports on Strigoi activity."

"Weird how?"

"There are none."

"What?"

"There have been no reports of Strigoi, nothing with the alchemists, nothing from the slayer unit and nothing from the regular guardians. There have been reports on Strigoi suddenly fleeing, but we have no idea what is going on. One report said that a Strigoi just turned back to Moroi in front of them, but that is just silly. They probably were just dealing with a drunk Moroi, that seemed violent. Although we have been getting an increase in Moroi interfering with human affairs but being thoroughly confused about it. "

Casya's breathing became labored and I think I was beginning to see what she might be thinking.

"Mom, Dad, Lera? Have any of you been able to transform?"

They looked at me funny. I saw they were trying but came up empty. Just like me.

"Son of a bitch."

"Sasha, you think that because I…"

I silenced her with a nod. I didn't know how much we could tell them. I trusted them I did, they were family. But I trusted them with me I didn't know if I trusted them with Casya. I looked over to my parents and they seemed to understand my struggles. My father took the lead from here.

"What I am about to tell you has to stay within these walls. I will tell this once and after that everyone is to forget this and never speak of this again. I need to have your words, that this information will never leave this room."

They all nodded. If my Dad was this serious we knew he meant business.

"Casya, do you want to tell your story?"

I felt her stiffen beside me at my father's question. I was surprised at the gentle tone he spoke to her. As a restored Strigoi himself, he knew part of what she went through, but I can also imagine he resented her because it was her crimes that led to him becoming Strigoi in the first place. It was her crimes that made the profession of the guardian's necessary. And even if my father was made to be a protector he didn't have much choice when growing up and ultimately that had started with Casya.

Eventually, she nodded as she took a deep breath.

"Hold on girl. I have a feeling this will require something strong. Tea anyone?"

Grandpa Abe got up and went to the kitchen to make tea. His Turkish heritage had come out in his old age. The man couldn't do anything without his damn tea. But right now I think I could use some of his special brews.

Five minutes later he came out with a tray of tea and biscuits. He handed me a cup and I took it greedily. I took a deep sip and let the bitterness burn my tongue. Turkish tea was flavorful but bitter. He handed a cup to Casya, who drank it, and immediately started coughing. I didn't know if it was because she wasn't used to anything but blood or if it really was that damn strong.

But she mustered a thank you after a few moments. Grandpa Abe smiled indulgingly at her.

Casya took a deep breath and started her story.

"I can't really remember how long ago but…"

After she told her story I saw everyone processing this. Sydney was the first to do something. She actually got up. I saw Casya look at her in horror thinking her abrupt departure was a clear rejection, but I knew Sydney better. Although I didn't really know what was happening either. But Dani left a few moments later to go after her mother.

The silence was deafening for a few moments.

Until both women came back with piles of stuff.

"Now I know I've got it in here somewhere."

"My dear, beautiful wife, what on earth are you doing?"

Uncle Adrian asked. I saw Sydney roll her eyes.

"I think I've found a reference to the curse Casya mentioned. I thought it might be an anti-Strigoi spell, but I guess I was wrong. I have been looking for the translation for years… oh, here it is. Well in Sumerian anyway. There are so many nuances I have tried three different translations and asked colleagues but we aren't sure about what it says."

"I can read Sumerian. It has been about five thousand years but I am sure I can manage. I didn't know there was a record. Back then we didn't really have language except for spoken word."

Everyone else looked impressed but I think by the blank expressions of Dani and Sydney I was beginning to understand how rare her skills would be in this world.

Sydney handed her the piece of paper and I saw her eyes scan over it.

"Yes, this seems almost correct. A few details are a little off but this does refer to the same ritual."

"Then I think I know what happened. If you would have died, your connection to the spell would have simply been severed but the curse would still exist in others, but the spirit magic that restored you, actually neutralized the human magic, not just breaking the spell, but redirecting the spell and dispersing it. The magic that made the Strigoi is no more."

We all said there in silence, letting the news wash over us. Somehow though we knew it was true. I could feel it especially. I felt strangely empty. The animal that has walked beside me all my life was now gone. And strangely I didn't feel much different. I suppose my mother was right. Our Strigoi side didn't make us into anything we weren't it just brought our wild side to the surface. But that had been a large part of me. I wondered who I was now that I wasn't a hybrid anymore.

Casya pulled on my sleeve.

"I think your grandfather tried to poison me."

I laughed.

"I doubt it but why?"

"My stomach hurts."

I suppose it could be that her physique simply wasn't used to anything other than blood. And Abe's tea was strong, but I suspected something else was going on as I heard her stomach rumble. How long has it been since she felt hunger for food? Hunger for blood was definitely something different.

I laughed as her stomach rumbled again.

"You're not hurt, you are hungry. Anything you want to eat? I can get almost anything."

Dad caught the end of the conversation.

"You might start her on a liquid diet first. Maybe some yogurt or something. It will be strange for her to eat and chew."

My father had been Strigoi for four months. I image he was speaking from experience. I can't image how strange it must be for her to eat after so long. Maybe he was right.

"No. I only have seventy years to try all the foods in the world. I need to start now. What would you recommend I try first? It has to be special. I will remember it for the rest of my life."

I looked over to my mother and sister and they looked back at me and all three of us said at the same time.

"Pizza."

"I'll order her a Vingino's pizza." My mother suggested. It was the best place at court to get Pizza and overall pretty good.

"Oh make that two."

"Three."

My sister shouted.

"Well, I'll order for all of us then. In the meantime, get her something to drink."

I tried not to get excited as Casya moaned over the pizza she was stuffing her face with. We had gotten all different kinds so she could taste them all. So far her favorite was double pepperoni. Wasn't it always.

But as I saw her face all covered with pizza grease and a smile on her face, I knew she would be fine. She might have experienced everything over the past few millennia but now I knew for the first time in a long time she felt alive.

 **I know a little rushed. There is one more chapter after this and then over time, I might add some epilogues going further into detail about Casya.**


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26:

Rose's POV

"Some day huh?"

"Yeah. Between our son bringing home a Strigoi and effectively ending our entire occupation it has been quite a day."

"Oh don't forget we are no longer blood craving hybrids."

My husband chuckled. I could feel it rumble in his chest as my head lay on top of it.

"Oh yeah, there is that. How are you feeling about that?"

I snuggled a little closer to him.

"Strange. Calm. It has been so long since I was alone in here. But I am more worried about the kids. They have had this power their entire lives. They have relied on it, worked with it. They were forged in its wake. I remember who I was before we were tattooed. They don't have that."

"They will be fine. They have special people in their lives now to help them and who need their help."

I picked my head up and looked at him a bit annoyed.

"So you have absolutely no problem with your son dating ex-pure evil."

He raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you were fine with it too?"

"Just because I laughed my ass off at the situation doesn't mean I am fine with it. I mean I like her enough, but still, that is my baby boy she defiled."

Dimitri couldn't do anything except laugh.

"Yeah, now you know how I feel when Eric stares at Lera's chest."

"I gave her condoms yesterday."

"You did what?"

"Nothing."

I smiled innocently, but the dark look in his eyes told me he wasn't buying it.

"Anyway. I am just wondering what we will do now."

"We too will be fine Roza. We could retire."

I scoffed at that. Yeah, we were made to take it easy and knit. Although we would probably age normally now, we still looked thirty. So didn't have to retire anytime soon.

"There won't be any need for guardians anymore. We could do anything, be anything. But why can't I think of anything to do."

"Because most guardians, certainly in our generation, were more or less forced to be guardians. But not us, we are born protectors. I imagine that Lissa being queen still will need bodyguards, so we won't be out of a job just yet. And I think the restored Strigoi might still cause some trouble. Some will be grateful for the change, but some will not, like Lee. I image at least for now guardians will become more like police…Or…you could be a good little housewife and every time I come home from the office have my slippers and papers ready for me."

I laughed and he chuckled. I started to press my body against him.

"And how would I greet my dear husband that is so kind as to provide for little old me."

Now Dimitri had a big smile on his face.

"Naked."

He whispered as he started to trace down my neck.

I giggled.

I had the little bit of fear in my mind now that our animal instincts were down to basic human levels we might see a drop in our libido. Not that we had any problem with this before the tattoos but there was definitely a different edge to most of our sessions. It wasn't just making love or showing affection. It was a primal need that needed to be satiated. But as he pulled me close and traced his hand from my inner thigh to my happy place I knew my worries were for naught. One touch and he could set me on fire. I was actually a little relieved I was incredibly turned on but didn't have the need to drain him dry. Well dry of blood. I would gladly drain a different part of him.

My mother called us in her office a few days later. She had asked us and Casya to come. I wondered what she wanted with the girl.

I laughed at my own thoughts. The girl. She was God knows how old. Certainly older than me. But I understand now why Sasha had been attracted to her. She was definitely strong and took crap from no one, but there was also a strange vulnerability and innocence about her. For her, it really was like seeing the world for the first time. The other day she had gone out into the sun for the first time and she had stayed and bathed in the rays until she became sick. It wasn't just the sun she had missed. She said things looked different in the day. Colors were more vibrant and light and even the people were different. Sleep had been another thing for her. Strigoi don't sleep and she wasn't used to feeling tired. The first day it had taken us a while to figure that out. She had become incredibly cranky and I think I was minutes away from a good spanking when I noticed she was swaying and dead on her feet. It had been interesting to get her to sleep. Getting her into pajamas and brushing her teeth. The whole time, she was complaining this was an asinine practice and Moroi were weak to be affected by the lack of sleep this much. We all had laughed and rolled her eyes. We have heard that particular phrase a few times this week. Bathroom visits were definitely an experience. Although she wasn't stupid by any means and knew most of the common rituals we mortals did based on movies and such, doing them herself was definitely different.

The three of us walked into my mother's office. I was surprised to see Sydney there and her sister Zoe was there as well. This did not bode well. Although I had seen Zoe over the years and she was definitely the go-to girl when it came to things at court, I knew that her presence in the lion's den sort of speak meant whatever the Alchemists wanted was big.

"Ah, Rosemarie, everyone, please sit down."

We all did as we were told. It was a bit cramped in here with all of us, but we would make due.

"So we have confirmed our suspicions and indeed Strigoi seemed to have gone extinct. We don't know yet if Moroi can still turn willingly, but as of now the population of Strigoi is zero. However, we have been getting a lot of disturbing reports about restored Strigoi. Some are confused and have a hard time adapting. We have dispatched some troops to deal with those, but there are also those, probably those that turned willingly in the past, that have gone off on a killing spree no doubt in an attempt to turn back again or to recapture their former glory. We will need more specialist units to deal with those and I was wondering if Dimitri would be up coordinating that."

My dear husband nodded.

"Also I was wondering if Casya might be interested in coaching some of the newly restored. I know everything is still fresh for you, but I think they could benefit from your experience. I mean if you can adapt I don't see why any of them can't."

"Of course. But adaptation is the most important survival skill and not often found in Strigoi. They believe their immortality excuses them from having to conform to the environment."

"But you don't share this belief?"

"No. I believe Darwin was spot on. It isn't the strongest or fastest that survives; it is the one that can adapt to change that is most likely to thrive."

My mother nodded at her.

"Furthermore, you have been requested both by our side as well as the alchemist to see if you and other old Strigoi that have been restored can shed some light on old documents, and historical events. Having centuries old people that might be willing to corporate now might prove beneficial in deciphering some unsolved mysteries. Also, I think it will provide you and some others some much-needed occupation."

I could see Casya was thrilled. It was an amazing opportunity. Her perspective and that of others would be invaluable because they were actually there.

We had told people Casya got turned back just like the rest of them when we killed the first Strigoi when we went on the raid to save the kids. Nobody seemed to notice the delay of the few days and reports of inactivity always take a while to reach everyone anyway. Most people knew Casya had been very old and she had a unique skill set. Ancient languages were her area of expertise. Her curiosity as a Strigoi would serve her well now, even if it doomed her as an immortal.

I had asked her how many languages she knew both dead and still spoken and she had said that the only places she hadn't been being the deepest parts of jungles, so other than a few dialects and languages there, she knew them all. Some she had an outdated vocabulary. It was funny watching her converse in Russian with Dimitri. She knew the language, but her slang was that of what they carried around in the 1900's.

"Okay now, that we have that settled you can go. All except Rosemarie. Vasilisa is coming in later to speak with Zoe and I would like you present."

I nodded and stayed in my seat as the rest left. Dimitri kissed me on my head as he exited.

After they left and Zoe had been excused to get some coffee it was just me, my mother and Sydney.

"So why is Lissa meeting with Zoe?"

I asked and saw the faces of my mother and Sydney darken.

"She is here to negotiate. I figured I would have Lissa make a statement to the alchemists first to negotiate a peace treaty before they even have a chance to think. Zoe shared my concerns and wanted to participate."

"Peace treaty. Why do we need a peace treaty with the alchemists?"

"It is no secret Alchemists hate vampires of any kind. But it was more efficient to deal with the Moroi and Dhampirs to keep the Strigoi in check. They were willing to accept the lesser evil to stop the larger. Now that that problem is gone I fear they will target the next threat on the list: Moroi. Although some within the alchemist are moderate and simply want to keep humans from learning about vampires, some are extreme in their views and those are the ones we have to worry about. Now that the Strigoi threat is over the Moroi and Dhampir population will thrive. Their fear of the Moroi world mixing with humans will eventually come to blows if nothing is done. So I thought I would have Lissa make a statement to the alchemist negotiating a new working relationship. They continue to help them keep Moroi separate from the human world and they will keep their world contained to the shadows."

I hadn't considered that. I would imagine the relationship between alchemists and other vampires would shift now that they weren't fighting a common enemy. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, but I don't recall what happens to these 'friends' when the war is over.

Somehow I was a little relieved. In a Utopian world, there was no need for warriors such as myself. And although our jobs would definitely be different, I knew our world still needed protectors to keep it safe. Our enemies might change, our directive might chance, but one thing would always remain. We would always protect against those that would do our world harm.

I think they should add a line into the monument in the park.

Not just 'Protectors of us all.'

But 'Protectors against anything.'

 **That was it. This story is over. I would like to thank Swimming the same deep waters for ideas on the first part and stardreamer2608 for checking my spelling on the last part.**

 **I have a short story planned but am still writing so I won't be uploading it right away. Romitri going undercover for Abe! Rose as a college student and Dimitri as a member of the Russian Mafia. Maybe a few chapters long.**

 **But after that, my stories are finished. I am still contributing to the VA10th anniversary project so you will see some entries from me there and am planning a few epilogues for this story and for Soul Bound. Also, I have a few one-shots, but this was the last big story. I hope you have enjoyed this and my other stories and I appreciate all the feedback and nice words, and even the sometimes not so nice words.**

 **Thanks everyone!**


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